Posts Tagged ‘Yamashita’s Treasure’

Yamashita’s Gold, alleged stolen treasure squirreled away by the Japanese during their occupation of the Philippines in WW2, was named after General Tomoyuki Yamashita. We devote a chapter to this intriguing rumor in our book The Orphan Conspiracies.

Yamashita’s Gold… Fact or fiction?

The war loot, also known as Yamashita’s Treasure, is said to have been hidden in caves and underground complexes throughout the islands of the Philippines.

Existence of these treasures remain unconfirmed by the Japanese, Filipino and all other authorities in Asia and the West to this very day. However, most international investigators – Asian investigators included – believe Yamashita’s Gold exists, or existed, at least to some degree. Their belief is supported by a Hawaii Supreme Court finding in 1998 and a subsequent US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruling, and we reveal those legal bombshells late in the chapter.

Between Japanese army records, international court hearings, eyewitness accounts and treasure finds throughout the Philippines over the decades following WW2, there seems to be more than enough substance to build a case for the existence of Yamashita’s Gold.

For more about Yamashita’s Gold, check out The Orphan Conspiracies on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J4MPFT6/

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In 1942, US General Douglas MacArthur was forced to leave the Philippines as the nation was overrun by Japanese. MacArthur told journalists, “I shall return.”

MacArthur in khaki trousers and open necked shirt with five-star-rank badges on the collar. He is wearing his field marshal's cap and smoking a corncob pipe.

General MacArthur pictured in WW2 Manila.

Over 10,000 American troops stationed in the Pacific had already surrendered to the Japanese and MacArthur had been left without any reinforcements. Fearing for his general’s safety, President Roosevelt had ordered him to leave the Philippines.

MacArthur’s famous words I shall return meant a lot to the Filipino people who clung to the hope they’d eventually reclaim their freedom.

In October, 1944, after leading a series of strategically brilliant air and sea attacks against Japanese forces, General MacArthur stood on Philippine soil once more. “I have returned,” he told emotional Filipinos who had not forgotten his promise.

A group of men wading ashore. With General MacArthur is Philippine President Sergio Osmena and other US and Philippine Generals.

“I have returned.” – General MacArthur.

Unfortunately, like most fairy tales spun during wartime, the true motivations in MacArthur’s case were probably not quite as straightforward or innocent as they appeared to be.

We shed some light on this – and on Japanese war booty known as ‘Yamashita’s Gold’ hidden in the Philippines during WW2 – in our new release book THE ORPHAN CONSPIRACIES: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy.

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

He (MacArthur) did return after leading the Allies to defeat the Japanese and kick them out of the Philippines. However, MacArthur may have been so keen to return to collect the riches he knew the Japanese had concealed all over the rugged island nation.

It is said that Charles Willoughby, the general’s Chief of Intelligence, had earlier in the war found evidence of the vast treasures buried throughout the Philippines.According to this theory, Willoughby and his staff had confirmed there were almost 200 Yamashita sites throughout the Philippines, including the all-important Trillion Yen sites.

General Yamashita

General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

Various independent researchers have concluded that MacArthur worked closely with the CIA immediately after WW2. Their goal: to locate and retrieve as many of the Yamashita treasure hoards as possible.

Among those independent researchers are prolific authors Sterling Seagrave and Peggy Seagrave who wrote in their 2003 book Gold Warriors: America’s Secret Recovery of Yamashita’s Gold that General MacArthur “used war loot to create a trust fund for Hirohito at Sanwa Bank” and “also set up the secret M-Fund”.

‘Gold Warriors’ investigates Yamashita’s Gold.

The Seagraves go into convincing detail about the evidence they apparently uncovered, proving MacArthur’s post-WW2 success in secretly recovering the bulk of Yamashita’s Gold for America. The authors also mention MacArthur’s right-hand man Charles Willoughby who they say“paid war criminals to rewrite history and manipulate Japan’s government,” immediately after the war as part of the covert operation.

Read more in The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy – available now via Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Conspiracies-Conspiracy-Theories-ebook/dp/B00J4MPFT6/

Not so much conspiracy theory as conspiracy fact.

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