Japan Cutting Ties With America?

For over 50 years, one party ruled Japan virtually uninterrupted. During that time, Japan remained a loyal ally and supporter of U.S. policy. This month, a historic event took place.

Japan has new leadership. In a landslide victory, a new party has done the seemingly impossible. A new freshman class of leaders now governs the Land of the Rising Sun. The effects are already rippling across the Pacific toward America.

Yukio Hatoyama is Japan’s new leader. He officially took office last Wednesday, and he is already threatening to split with the United States.

Hatoyama blames America for the global economic crisis and says that the U.S. is responsible for “the destruction of human dignity.” He campaigned on protecting traditional Japanese economic activities and reducing U.S.-led globalization.

During the run-up to the election, Hatoyama’s finance minister told the bbc he was worried about the future value of the dollar, and that if his party were elected in the upcoming national elections, it would refuse to purchase any more U.S. treasuries unless they were denominated in Japanese yen.

Japan is the world’s second-largest economy. It is also America’s second-most-important creditor. The U.S. government owes Japan over $724 billion! The only nation America owes more money to is China ($800 billion). The U.S. also imports $140 billion worth of goods from Japan each year.

If Japan were to follow through with its threat to only lend in yen, the dollar would probably fall hard. What would that mean? America gets more expensive consumer goods, higher unemployment, and currency inflation. If other nations like China follow suit, we would be looking at a currency crisis—Zimbabwe-style.

The new government in Japan has also pledged to diversify its foreign currency reserves away from the dollar. This means that at some point, it will need to dramatically reduce how much money it lends to America. America is planning to borrow record amounts over the next couple of years, so something isn’t adding up here. Where will the money come from?

“The financial crisis has suggested to many that the era of U.S. unilateralism may come to an end,” Hatoyama wrote in an August 26 New York Times article titled “A New Path for Japan.” “It has also raised doubts about the permanence of the dollar as the key global currency.”

But Hatoyama isn’t just charting a separate economic course for Japan. His campaign also promised a more “independent” foreign policy from Washington, and closer relations with Japan’s Asian neighbors.

More alarming for American policymakers, Hatoyama has authorized a wide-ranging review of the U.S. military presence on Japanese soil. He is reexamining the agreement that permits U.S. warships to dock at Japanese ports, and has said Japan should take a second look at why it is spending billions to house and transfer U.S. troops between its islands. Hatoyama has also moved to quickly end Japan’s fueling support for the U.S. naval anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On Wednesday, an even bigger torpedo hit. Both U.S. and Japanese officials confirmed that discussions were underway to remove all U.S. fighter aircraft from Japan.

So many alarm bells have been clanging in Washington that the Australian reports the U.S. administration has requested “immediate clarifying discussions” on just how far Japan wants to take the disengagement. But there may not be too much America can do if Japan is intent on reducing America’s presence in Japanese territory. Regarding the U.S.-Japan security relationship, Richard Armitage, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, said: “If the government of Japan asked us to change things, we’d argue, we’d kick and scream, but ultimately we’d have to do it.”

Japan is a major platform for American power projection. Losing it would be devastating to U.S. security.

Japan is America’s most important forward base in the Pacific. It is an unsinkable aircraft carrier from which American task forces can operate to secure the flow of trade and resources across the Pacific.

At a time when China is increasingly challenging American authority in the East and South China Sea, when North Korea is brandishing nuclear weapons, and Islamic terrorism is on the upswing in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, America can ill afford to lose Japanese military and logistical support.

But it is losing it.

In his New York Times article, Prime Minister Hatoyama asked, “How should Japan maintain its political and economic independence and protect its national interest when caught between the United States, which is fighting to retain its position as the world’s dominant power, and China, which is seeking ways to become dominant?” (emphasis mine throughout).

Being allied with America has become a problem for Japan.

The new prime minister is no doubt asking himself: How do I protect Japan’s interests? The distant Americans sit 5,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean. One billion Chinese could fly to Tokyo for breakfast, Taiwan for lunch, and back home for kung pao dinner before America’s fastest jets could make it much past Hawaii.

In the same article, Hatoyama answered his own question: “[W]e must not forget our identity as a nation located in Asia,” he said. “I believe that the East Asian region, which is showing increasing vitality, must be recognized as Japan’s basic sphere of being.”

“I also feel that as a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end ….” Hatoyama even said that Japan must “spare no effort to build the permanent security frameworks” essential to creating a new anti-dollar regional Asian currency shared by China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Hatoyama doesn’t just think America’s economy and power are fading fast, he’s publishing it in the New York Times! He sees Japan’s future as being with Asia. And he’s right.

There is a bold movement occurring in Asia. Old animosities are being forgotten, or resolved. “I believe that regional integration and collective security is the path we should follow,” Hatoyama reiterated. Only “by moving toward greater integration” can Asia’s problems be solved, he said.

This movement toward greater Asian cooperation will soon speed up drastically. Not only do the facts prove it, biblical prophecy forecasts it. A major military alliance between Russia, China and Japan is about to be locked in. (Read about this specific prophecy in Russia and China in Prophecy.)

Prime Minister Hatoyama may be the most pro-Asian Japanese prime minister yet. He has pledged to ignore Japan’s World War ii shrine that honors the country’s war dead, to avoid offending Korea. His only son is attending a prestigious Russian engineering university. And he is the first Japanese prime minister to receive election coverage by any Chinese print media—and it was front-page news in the Communist Party’s People’s Daily. Also, for the first time, a Chinese television station provided live coverage of the election that saw Hatoyama take power.

Japan’s new policy is focused on Asia—and winning friends on the Asian continent.

America is about to lose its Japanese ally. “The U.S. has been critical of new trends in Japan, but we are not a colony of Washington and we should be able to say what we want,” said Makoto Watanabe, a professor of media and communication at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Japan. “[W]hile under previous governments Japan had become a yes-man to the U.S., this suggests to me that healthy change is taking place.”

But that change will not be healthy—especially for America.

The Bible describes a time when America will be besieged by its former trade partners. This siege, warned about in Deuteronomy 28:52, is both economic and military in nature. “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.”

America is about to be blockaded. For this to occur, Japan would need to take a radical turn from its recent historical political and economic persuasions.

It is radically turning. Today we are witnessing a dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy. America is about to become perilously isolated. The nation with the single largest merchant fleet in the world will turn its back on an economically waterlogged America. And America, without its most important military bases in Asia, will be one step closer to being pushed right out of the Asia Pacific altogether.

America’s ship of state is sinking. Japan’s lifeboat has already left.

New Updates In The Japanese Bond Case

If you have any updates to this case please leave a comment at the end of this post or send us an email at truthinourtime@gmail.com

By Sonia Sirletti and Elisa Martinuzzi

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Secret Service is examining more than $100 billion of U.S. government bonds confiscated in northern Italy in August, just two months after $134 billion of allegedly fake securities were seized in a nearby town.

The Secret Service is analyzing whether the bonds taken in August may be counterfeit, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Rome. Italy’s financial police in Varese, north of Milan, arrested two individuals carrying the securities in a briefcase, according to a person involved in the case.

The two men currently are in custody as prosecutors in the town of Busto Arsizio carry out their investigation, the person said. The seized notes include securities with face values of $500 million and $1 billion, Italian daily MF reported today, without saying where it got the information.

“There must be a well-organized group behind these alleged crimes,” Fabio Polimeni, a Milan lawyer specializing in counterfeiting cases, said.

Italian authorities seized U.S. treasuries on June 4 with a face value of more than $134 billion from two Japanese travelers attempting to cross into Switzerland. The two men later disappeared and the case is still under investigation. The U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a suitcase carried by the men were fake, a U.S. Treasury spokesman said June 18.

“As financial markets become more sophisticated, creative and bigger, we can expect criminal activity to go with it and it’s happening everywhere,” Livia Oglio, a Milan lawyer, said. “The amount seized is phenomenal.”

Since the beginning of the year the police at border stations in Italy have seized 1.7 million euros of genuine money and bonds, and have confiscated more than 100 million euros of bonds that have been determined to be false, according to an Italian finance police statement in July.

Japanese Bond Smugglers Released!

I reiterate that this should be the TOP story on every news station across the globe. 2 Japanese men that were trying to cash 135 BILLION worth of Japanese US held debt, have now been released! Either scenario isn't good.

1. The bonds were fake, but then why did 2 counter fitters get released from custody and nobody seems to know where they are?

2. Which happens to be what I think is the truth, the bonds were very real and the Japanese government is so worried about the imminent collapse of the American financial system and the onslaught of hyper inflation that they wanted to cash these in secret.

http://www.stockhouse.com/Bullboards/MessageDetail.aspx?s=MAI&t=list&m=27235840&l=0&pd=0&r=0

If you want to see all other Truth In Our Time stories related to this international incident click here or the Japanese Bond tag under this post.

Bizzarre Updates on the Japanese Bond Story

All evidence shows they are real!

Milan (AsiaNews) – Four weeks have passed since American bonds were confiscated from two Japanese who were travelling on a direct train to Chiasso, Switzerland, and while there has been clarification of some points, very few, Italian authorities have remained silent on the rest of the episode.

In addition, a strange coincidence in the timing of the arrest of a director of an internet radio who had made revelations regarding the incident increases the already strong oddities surrounding the case. This added to the revaluation of the fact that among the evidence seized there were "Kennedy Bond" all points toward the authenticity of the items seized by the Guardia di Finanza (GdF) in early June.

The major English-speaking newspapers ignored the story for a couple of weeks. They only started to report on it after the Bloomberg agency carried a story on 18 / 6, in which a spokesman for the Treasury, Meyerhardt, declared that the bonds, based on photos available on the Internet, were "clearly false." The same day, the Financial Times (FT) published an article whose title laid the blame for the (alleged) infringement at the feet of the Italian Mafia, despite the fact that the article failed to make even one possible connection with the episode in Chiasso. Nevertheless, the version of events as reported in FT was taken up by others as being "appropriate" (given that it is a very common cliché about Italy and it is a sequester that took place in Italy) and in the end "colourful." It’s a pity that it goes against all logic: that the Mafia tried to pass unnoticed in its attempt to dump fake bonds amounting to 134.5 billion dollars and moreover were to "stung" a mere step from their gaol, is not very credible.

Most recently last week, 25 / 6, the New York Times reported on the story in particular, the allegations of CIA spokesman, Darrin Blackford: the U.S. Secret Service carried out inspections, as required by the Italian judiciary, and found that they were fictitious financial instruments, never issued by the “U.S. government”. It is not clear, however, how the checks mentioned Blackford were carried out and whether they were also are carried out via internet. According to official Italian sources, in fact, the Commission of American experts, expected in Italy, have yet to arrive. Furthermore, the bonds were accompanied by a recent and original bank record. It is therefore unclear how the U.S. authorities can declare fake documentation that does not originate from the Fed or the U.S. Department of Treasury.

On the contrary, claims in support of the bond’s authenticity were made 20 / 6 on the Turner Radio Network (TRN), an independent radio station broadcast via Internet. On that date in a massive exposure, TRN stated that the two Japanese arrested by the Guardia di Finanza (GdF) and then released in Ponte Chiasso were employees of the Japanese Ministry for Treasury. AsiaNews had also received similar reports: one of the two Japanese arrested in Chiasso and then released is Tuneo Yamauchi, brother of Toshiro Muto, until recently vice governor of the Bank of Japan. On its website, the creator and presenter of Radio, Hal Turner, had also claimed that his sources had revealed that the Italian authorities believe the evidence to be authentic and that the two Japanese officials are from the Japanese Ministry for Finance. They were supposed to bring the bonds to Switzerland because the Japanese government had apparently lost confidence in U.S. ability to repay its debt. Japanese financial authorities therefore were trying to sell a part of the securities in their possession through parallel channels ahead of an imminent financial disaster, thanks to the anonymity which, Turner said, is guaranteed by the laws of Switzerland.

AsiaNews does not know to what extent Turner’s revelations can be held as credible, given that in this case too, it is difficult to believe that $ 134.5 billion would pass unnoticed anywhere in the world. It seems far more logical to assume that the bonds, if authentic, were directed to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, BIS, the central bank of central banks ahead of the issuance of securities in a new supranational currency. Turner had in any event added that as evidence of his support of his revelations he would have provided the serial numbers of the seized bonds. Before it could do so, however, was imprisoned. Hal Turner is the journalist who long ago first broke the news of a secret plan to replace the dollar, after a severe financial crisis, with a common North American currency, the Amero. In a dramatic phone call from inside the prison in which he is detained pending trial, relayed via internet, Hal Turner claims that his arrest is political and it is in relation to securities seized in Chiasso, because the authorities are terrorized by his revelations regarding the bonds’ authenticity. Of course, the allegations made against him have to nothing to do with the story and thus an already intricate story becomes increasingly complex. Turner maintains that he did not personally formulate the disclosure for which he has been imprisoned. Although it was clearly his responsibility to remain vigilant, it is also true that blogs from around the world and the U.S. themselves are full of threats and provocations. The coincidental timing, the unusual diligence and the details of his arrest arouse suspicions about the true motives of the American federal police. Indeed, this very arrest suggests that the evidence seized from GdF are truly authentic.

One more element in favour of the bond’s authenticity is found in the securities, which in the June 4 statement, the GdF termed "Kennedy Bonds” with photos provided. These photos reveal that the securities under discussion are not bonds but Treasury Notes, because they are securities that can be immediately exchanged for their worth in goods or services and because they are devoid of interest coupons. One side carries a reproduction of the image of the American president, the reverse side that of a spaceship. From confidential, usually well-informed sources, AsiaNews has learned that this type of paper money was issued less than ten years ago (in 1998), although it is difficult to know whether those seized in Chiasso are authentic. But the fact that the release of this particular State Treasury was not completely in the public domain tends to exclude the possibility of counterfeiting. It highly unreasonable to suppose that a forger would reproduce a State Treasury not commonly in circulation and of which there is no public knowledge. For this reason, it can be concluded that the 124.5 billion dollars divided in 249 bonds of 500 million each are authentic. These titles, although referred to as "Federal Reserve Notes" are actually bonds, because they accrue interest and are redeemable at maturity. But one question remains unsolved regarding them. It is somewhat hard to understand why the securities, which were from the outset indistinguishable from the original to the GdF, all have their coupons. Any ordinary investor, even a state, would have cashed in the interest coupon every year, so as not to lose purchasing power.

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15648&size=A

The Truth About The Japanese Bonds

The fact that this isn't the BIGGEST news story on planet earth right now, should be undeniable proof that the media and government is 100% controlled.

(Taken from his site before it was taken down)

Employees of Japan Finance Ministry arrested in Italy trying to smuggle $134 Billion in U.S. Treasuries in suitcases

Friday, 19 June 2009

URGENT UPDATE - JUNE 20:

WE HAVE OBTAINED PHOTOS AND VIDEO OF THE BONDS!!!!!

Two Japanese men arrested by Italian Police while trying to smuggle $134 Billion in U.S. Treasury Bonds concealed in suitcases, out of Italy into Switzerland, are employees of the Finance Ministry of Japan.

TRN has now confirmed the two men arrested by Italy were trying to secretly dump Bonds that were previously held by the nation of Japan. The men arrested have told Italian police they were ordered to move the Bonds by the government of Japan because the Japanese government has lost faith in the ability of the U.S. government to repay its debts.

Despite assurances from Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano about Japan's "absolutely unshakable” confidence in the credibility of the U.S. dollar, it is now confirmed based upon the serial numbers of the Bonds, that the $134 Billion is part of the $686 billion of U.S. debt officially held by Japan.

According to Italian Law Enforcement, authorities originally thought the men were part of the "Yakuza", a Japanese organized crime syndicate similar to the Italian Mafia, which lead officials to believe the Bonds were forgeries But after the men who were arrested were forced to remain in jail for more than a few days, they discarded their cover story and admitted to being employees of the Finance Ministry of Japan.

Strangely, very few major media outlets have covered this story. Of the few media outlets that have covered it, one - Bloomberg Business News - reported the bonds were "fakes." But according to Italian authorities, that is a cover story developed by the U.S. government to avoid panic selling of U.S. Treasuries by other nations.

Law enforcement sources in Rome claim the Italian government is ecstatic over the seizure because under Italian law, they get to keep forty percent (40%) of the smuggled bonds. The governments of both the US and Japan are trying to negotiate with Italy for return of the Bonds but because of the astonishing amount of money involved, Italy is refusing any negotiation at all.

TRN has been told to expect to receive serial numbers from the bonds as proof they are real. In addition, our source claims he can obtain scanned images of some of those bonds as well. If we are given such information or images, we will report them publicly.

COMMENTARY:

The implications of this situation are monstrous: An ally of the United States has been caught trying to secretly unload U.S. government debt. This is unmistakable proof that the United States government is headed into economic collapse because nations around the world have now officially lost faith in its ability to repay.

The fact that $134 Billion in Bonds was intercepted by Italian Police was confirmed two days ago by Bloomberg Business news (here). Today's revelation by TRN that the men arrested were employees of the Japan Finance Ministry is a huge development which will cause sudden and dramatic reaction worldwide.

UPDATE June 19, 2009 2115 HRS ET -- The Japanese men taken into custody by Italy have been released and they were allowed to take their "fake" Bonds with them! Authorities now say they do not know where the men went. Those same authorities have told the "Financial Times" of London that the Bonds were "most likely fakes." (Financial Times Story Here)

Updated Commentary: This is the single biggest farce we've heard about in a long time. Does anyone actually believe that anyone would be transiting a national border with $134 Billion in "fake" Bonds concealed in a suitcase with a fake bottom?

Does anyone actually believe Italian Authorities would ignore their own laws and release persons who violated Italian financial disclosure laws?

Does anyone really believe that a bank or other entity would simply accept a US Treasury "Intergovernmental" Bond with a face value of either $500 Million or $1 Billion without ever calling the US Treasury to determine if the bonds were valid?

The absurd explanation provided by the U.S. Government that the bonds were "fakes" would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.

Clearly the government of Japan got caught red handed trying to dump U.S. Treasury Bonds because they no longer trust that the USA can pay its debts. When the issue blew up in their faces, everyone from Japan to Italy to the USA had to get together and lie about what was happening with the hope that other nations wouldn't start dumping U.S. Treasuries too.

That is precisely what happened. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or stupid. . . . . or thinks we're stupid enough to believe them!

We have now entered the official "end game" for the United States Government. They are broke. Bankrupt. They have no hope of ever repaying their debts. Countries around the world know this and are starting to dump U.S. debt and U.S. currency because it will all become worthless very soon.

There's no stopping it. There's no avoiding it. There's no way to patch things up to make this go away.

The United States of America has been bankrupted by its own government. That government bears sole responsibility for the economic collapse that is coming. When the collapse happens, the American people - the most heavily armed population on Earth - will probably take up arms and overthrow the government by force. In our view, forcible overthrow is a fate the U.S. Government richly deserves.

It would be very wise for those of you who still can, to consult with qualified financial people about how to get your assets out of the USA and your money OUT of U.S. dollars before you are all wiped out too. Time is running out. Japan is already trying to dump their U.S. holdings. You should too before everyone does at the same time.

UPDATE - JUNE 20 1435 HRS ET -- The TRN has obtained photos and video from the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Financial Police) showing the actual $134 Billion in U.S. Bonds, with coupons attached, which were caught being smuggled from Italy into Switzerland.

The bonds were intercepted in Chiasso, Italy at the border of Switzerland.

The Bonds were owned by the country of Japan since the early 1980's when printed bonds were still issued by the U.S. Treasury. Today, all such Bonds are done electronically.

The paper bonds below were being smuggled into Switzerland by employees of the Japan Finance Ministry so they could be sold, at discount, under the anonymity of Swiss financial laws. If no one knew Japan was dumping US Treasury bonds, it would not cause a panic worldwide as other nations dumped their US Treasuries too. Japan was rudely surprised when the two employees of the Japan Finance Ministry were grabbed at the Italian border.

Japan sent the $134 Billion in bonds to Switzerland because Japan has lost faith in the ability of the U.S. government to repay its debts and Japan wanted to sell the bonds at a discount off face value with the hope of recouping at least some of the money before the U.S.collapses economically.

Those of you around the world who are holding U.S. Treasury notes would do well to consult with a qualified financial planner to see how quickly you can dump any U.S. Treasury Bonds and any U.S. Dollars you may be holding before the U.S. suffers the economic collapse which is now unavoidable.

If you are left holding Bonds or Dollars, you will likely be financially wiped out when the US Government repudiates its debt because it simply cannot pay anymore.

In the photo below, the piles of Bonds which appear to have a cash-like top have a face value of five hundred million dollars each ($500,000,000) and the smaller Bonds at the bottom right of the table are "Kennedy Bonds" with a face value of one billion dollars each ($1,000,000,000)

The total face value of the bonds shown on the table below is one hundred thirty four billion dollars!