FBI Returns Looted Relics Taken From Japan at End of World War II

The items have been returned from a Massachusetts Attic, including six painted scrolls and a hand-drawn map of Okinawa—all from the 18th and 19th centuries.
FBI Returns Looted Relics Taken From Japan at End of World War II
A looted artifact from Okinawa, Japan. FBI Boston/FBI Art Crime Team
Stephen Katte
Updated:

A number of historic Japanese artifacts allegedly looted from Okinawa Island in the dying days of World War II have been returned home to Japan after a family from Massachusetts discovered 22 items in their late father’s attic.

In a March 15 report, the FBI revealed that the artifacts were missing for nearly 80 years until the FBI Boston Field Office received a message from a Massachusetts family who found what they described as “valuable Asian art” among the belongings of their deceased father, who had served in WWII.

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