Yoshiko Yamaguchi
Date of birth: 1920-02-12
Place of birth: Fushun, Manchuria
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Li Xianglan, Yoshiko Ōtaka, 李香蘭, 李香兰, 大鷹淑子, Ri Koran, Shirley Yamaguchi, Ri Kōran, Li Xiang-Lan, Lee Heung-Lan, Li Hsiang-Lan, Yamaguchi Yoshiko, Pan Shu-Hua
Biography
Yoshiko Yamaguchi (山口 淑子, Yamaguchi Yoshiko, February 12, 1920 – September 7, 2014), also known by her stage names Shirley Yamaguchi and Li Xianglan, is a China-born Japanese actress and singer who made a career in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States. She was elected as a member of the Japanese Parliament in the 1970s and served for 18 years. Early in her career, the Manchukuo Film Association concealed her Japanese origin and she went by the Chinese name Li Hsiang-lan (李香蘭), rendered in Japanese as Ri Kōran. This allowed her to represent China in Japanese propaganda movies. After the war, she appeared in Japanese movies under her real name, as well as in several English language movies under the stage name, Shirley Yamaguchi. After becoming a journalist in the 1950s under the name Yoshiko Ōtaka (大鷹 淑子, Ōtaka Yoshiko), she was elected as a member of the Japanese parliament in 1974, and served for 18 years. After retiring from politics, she served as vice president of the Asian Women's Fund. She died at the age of 94 in Tokyo on September 7, 2014.
Movie Credits
House of Bamboo
1955-07-01
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a fo
Scandal
1950-04-26
A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a pain
Endless Passion
1949-09-29
Japanese War Bride
1952-01-29
A Korean war vet and his bride face subtle and sometimes extreme racism when they return to his home
John Gunther's High Road
1959-09-07
John Gunther, a great traveler in many parts of the globe, presented on the American ABC channel the
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019-10-13
A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
Sayon's Bell
1943-07-01
Based on the true story of a 17-year old Atayal girl called Sayun Hayun from Nan'oku village, Giran
The Legend of the White Serpent
1956-06-22
Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in lov
Winter Jasmine
1942-03-21
An inept and recently graduated Japanese man begins working in the administration of Manchuria, unde
Eternity
1943-06-01
The life and story of Lin Zexu and the First Opium War.
君と僕
1941-11-15
Chin Ping Mei
1955-06-23
Chin Ping Mei 金瓶梅 (1955) is a Hong Kong feature film written by Ku Wen-Chung and directed by Wang Yi
Dear Soldier
1944-06-16
Two Korean conscripts undergo Imperial Japanese Army training, much to the pleasure of their familie
China Night
1940-01-02
Wartime propaganda filmed by the Japanese in occupied China, Shirley Yamaguchi portrays an orphan re
Holiday in Tokyo
1958-04-15
May Kawaguchi is a famous Japanese fashion designer. Returning to Tokyo from her home in New York, s
The Monkey King
1940-11-06
A legendary pre-war comedy operetta starring Enomoto Kenichi, Hideko Takamine and Li Xianglan. The S
Song of the White Orchid
1939-11-30
Song of the White Orchid was a co-production of Toho and Mantetsu, the railway that served the colon
Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness
1958-03-25
A Japanese artist (Ikebe), who had won the favor of the Cambodian royal family when he rescued their
The Lady of Mystery
1957-12-22
Spies, Military Documents and Traitors.
冤魂復仇
1939-01-01
Revenge of wronged souls
One Thousand Ryo Ship in the Wind and Clouds
1952-12-16
1952 Japanese movie
Navy Wife
1956-05-20
Japanese women, seeng how well American soldiers stationed in their country treat their wives, deman
Oath on the Burning Sands
1940-12-25
A Japanese army engineer (Hasegawa) on the mainland must put his personal feelings for a beautiful C
Suzhou Nights
1941-12-29
A hostile Chinese nurse (Yamaguchi) who works in an orphanage is won over by the care and commitment
Foghorn
1952-03-03
A Japanese woman, the mistress of an American, falls in love with her servant.
The Last Embrace
1953-03-11
Yukiko Nogami is rescued during a mountain blizzard by handsome forester Shinkichi, and the two subs
Sword for Hire
1952-05-22
Soldiers Hayate and Yaheiji secretly escape from their besieged castle. Hayate has left behind his l
The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
1948-09-26
Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob
Toyuki
1940-02-07
Shot mostly in Tokyo, this comedy depicts two Chinese tourists who have travelled from their country
Escape at Dawn
1950-01-08
Mikami, a Japanese soldier, is captured by Chinese forces. Although able to escape, he is treated wi
Shanghai Rose
1952-08-13
Ningen moyo
1949-06-14
A love triangle among a girl, her poor boyfriend, and a rich company president.
My Nightingale
1944-03-24
Sumida is separated from his wife and daughter when conflict erupts in Harbin. Years later, he find
First Love Questions and Answers
1950-01-15
Shooting Star
1949-03-05
Based on that testimony, an investigation is launched in the entertainment district, and through a b
Onna no ryūkō
1950-02-19
Yasen gungakutai
1944-11-23
The Lucky Chair
1948-02-10
Return to Japan
1949-11-22
土曜日の天使
1954-08-24
The story follows a dysfunctional family whose daily life is thrown into chaos when an English tutor