GOLDEN LILY ORANJE-NASSAU: January 2015

Emperor Gold and Golden Lily

The Japanese brutally conquered many nations during WW II, and they stole billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, artwork and precious jewelry from each country. When the U.S. submarine blockage of Japan prevented this rapidly accumulating wealth from being shipped to the homeland, billions of dollars worth of this treasure was hidden in the Philippines. Seventy years after the war most of the plundered wealth has still not been recovered, and many are still looking for it. The plan was for Japan to retrieve it after the war, but Marcos got to some of it first. The Japanese imperial family also wanted this fortune and worked a deal with underworld to recover the wealth. A stranger calls on Gordon McNeill and brings up the subject of immense hidden treasure in the Philippines. Japanese organized crime realizes this has happened, and orders a series of assassinations of everyone this man talked to, including Gordon. Gordon and his security company of former Navy SEALs get sucked into the Japanese underworld as they search for the people who ordered his death. In this action packed suspense novel that spans from the opening of World War II in Asia until present times, the reader will first witness the intense fighting in China when Japan invades to start their plundering of Asia. The action will also take the reader through the underworld in Japan where the SEALs matchup against the Japanese yakuza. The story continues to the Philippines where the gold is hidden and another killer waits for Gordon and his team. This novel will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Yamashita's Golde

Yamashita's gold, also referred to as the Yamashita treasure, is the name given to the alleged war loot stolen in Southeast Asia by Japanese forces during World War II and hidden in caves, tunnels and underground complexes in the Philippines. It is named for the Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita, nicknamed "The Tiger of Malaya". Though accounts that the treasure remains hidden in the Philippines have lured treasure hunters from around the world for over fifty years, its existence is dismissed by most experts. The rumored treasure has been the subject of a complex lawsuit that was filed in a Hawaiian state court in 1988 involving a Filipino treasure hunter, Rogelio Roxas, and the former Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos.

O'Herne Semarang

Jan Ruff-O'Herne told her shocking story on Australian Story in 2001 - a secret that took her 50 years to come to terms with before finally, she revealed it in a letter to her two daughters. An idyllic childhood in Java was brought to an abrupt end by the Japanese occupation during Word War Two. Aged 21, she was taken from her family and repeatedly abused, beaten and raped - forced to be a sex slave for the Japanese military. The term coined for this brutal sex slavery was 'comfort woman'. But since revealing her 'uncomfortable truth' Jan Ruff-O'Herne's suffering has been transformed into something affirmative. In February this year, this 84-year-old Adelaide grandmother made the long journey to testify before Congress in Washington DC. The Congressional hearing was the pinnacle in her 15-year global campaign to seek justice for 'comfort women'. Now six years since Australian Story first aired her story, Jan Ruff-O'Herne feels she is one step closer to finally achieving her ultimate goal.

Japanese succession controversy Princess Aiko

The Japanese succession controversy refers to desires to change the laws of succession to the Japanese Throne, which is currently limited to males of the Japanese Imperial Family. Controversy exists as to what extent the current rule of succession under the Imperial Household Act of 1947 should be changed. Those on the Right advocate a change, holding the Prussian-style agnatic primogeniture, but bringing back the previously excluded male relatives into the Imperial household. Liberals would advocate the adoption of absolute primogeniture. Moderates would advocate re-adoption of earlier, indigenous customs of succession, that is, that a female can succeed to the throne as long as she holds precedence in seniority or proximity within the patrilineal kinship. The late Princess Takamatsu, the last surviving Arisugawa-Takamatsu and aunt to the current Emperor, advocated the traditional, customary rights of female princesses to succession, in her media interviews and articles, after the birth of Princess Aiko.