Yoshiko Yamaguchi
Acting • Born 1920-02-12 – Died 2014-09-07
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.
Filmography
42 credits
House of Bamboo
Movie • 1955
Mariko
Scandal
Movie • 1950
Miyako Saijo
Endless Passion
Movie • 1949
Beautiful singer
Japanese War Bride
Movie • 1952
Tae Shimizu
John Gunther's High Road
Movie • 1959
Self
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Movie • 2019
(archive footage)
Sayon's Bell
Movie • 1943
Sayon
The Legend of the White Serpent
Movie • 1956
The White Lady
Winter Jasmine
Movie • 1942
Eternity
Movie • 1943
凤姑
君と僕
Movie • 1941
Manchurian girl
Chin Ping Mei
Movie • 1955
Dear Soldier
Movie • 1944
Singer
China Night
Movie • 1940
Holiday in Tokyo
Movie • 1958
The Monkey King
Movie • 1940
Oriental Woman
Song of the White Orchid
Movie • 1939
Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness
Movie • 1958
Angela, her teacher
The Lady of Mystery
Movie • 1957
冤魂復仇
Movie • 1939
One Thousand Ryo Ship in the Wind and Clouds
Movie • 1952
Navy Wife
Movie • 1956
Akashi
Oath on the Burning Sands
Movie • 1940
Suzhou Nights
Movie • 1941
Foghorn
Movie • 1952
Chiyo (Hana)
The Last Embrace
Movie • 1953
Yukiko Nogami
Sword for Hire
Movie • 1952
Oryo
The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
Movie • 1948
Toyuki
Movie • 1940
Liqin, the Typist
Escape at Dawn
Movie • 1950
Harumi
Shanghai Rose
Movie • 1952
Li Lili
Ningen moyo
Movie • 1949
My Nightingale
Movie • 1944
Mariko
First Love Questions and Answers
Movie • 1950
Shooting Star
Movie • 1949
原口愛子
Onna no ryūkō
Movie • 1950
Yasen gungakutai
Movie • 1944
Ai Ran
The Lucky Chair
Movie • 1948
Return to Japan
Movie • 1949
土曜日の天使
Movie • 1954
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
さよなら李香蘭
TV • 1989