Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Born: February 12, 1920
Died: August 7, 2014
in Fushun, Manchuria
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.

Movies for Yoshiko Yamaguchi...

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Title: Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Character: (archive footage)
Released: October 13, 2019
Type: Movie
A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
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Title: さよなら李香蘭
Released: December 21, 1989
Type: TV
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John Gunther's High Road
Title: John Gunther's High Road
Character: Self
Released: September 7, 1959
Type: Movie
John Gunther, a great traveler in many parts of the globe, presented on the American ABC channel the documentary program "John Gunther's High Road" from September 7, 1959 to October 1, 1960, namely 30 episodes. Two adventure trips filmed in distant places were broadcast: The first documentary film was shot exclusively for the show and the second film offered was a great classic adventure or exploit film by another director.
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A Holiday in Tokyo
Title: A Holiday in Tokyo
Released: April 15, 1958
Type: Movie
May Kawaguchi is a famous Japanese fashion designer. Returning to Tokyo from her home in New York, she travels incognito with a tour group, in hopes of having a quiet vacation without being noticed. But she is spotted and the press has a field-day with the returning celebrity. Her hopes of rest shattered, she agrees to put on a large-scale fashion show.
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Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness
Title: Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness
Character: Angela, her teacher
Released: March 25, 1958
Type: Movie
A Japanese artist (Ikebe), who had won the favor of the Cambodian royal family when he rescued their daughter during World War II, returns and falls for the now-grown princess, though neither realizes the other's identity.
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The Lady of Mystery
Title: The Lady of Mystery
Released: December 22, 1957
Type: Movie
Spies, Military Documents and Traitors.
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The Legend of the White Serpent
Title: The Legend of the White Serpent
Character: The White Lady
Released: June 22, 1956
Type: Movie
Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form.
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Navy Wife
Title: Navy Wife
Character: Akashi
Released: May 20, 1956
Type: Movie
Japanese women, seeng how well American soldiers stationed in their country treat their wives, demand the same from their husbands.
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House of Bamboo
Title: House of Bamboo
Character: Mariko
Released: July 1, 1955
Type: Movie
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
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Chin Ping Mei
Title: Chin Ping Mei
Released: June 23, 1955
Type: Movie
Chin Ping Mei 金瓶梅 (1955) is a Hong Kong feature film written by Ku Wen-Chung and directed by Wang Yin, it was produced by Shaw Brothers Studio. This is an adaptation of the Lotus Pan tale.
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The Last Embrace
Title: The Last Embrace
Released: March 11, 1953
Type: Movie
Yukiko Nogami is rescued during a mountain blizzard by handsome forester Shinkichi, and the two subsequently fall in love. But when Shinkichi dies in an avalanche, Yukiko leaves the mountains in despair and takes a job in a bar where she becomes deeply involved in the personal lives of several of the patrons. One day she thinks she sees Shinkichi alive, but it turns out to be a gangster named Hayakawa, a man on the run who bears an astonishing resemblance to Yukiko's lost love. Against her better judgment, she is drawn to help Hayakawa, though clearly danger follows him.
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Fuun Senryobune
Title: Fuun Senryobune
Released: December 16, 1952
Type: Movie
1952 Japanese movie
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Shanghai Rose
Title: Shanghai Rose
Character: Li Lili
Released: August 13, 1952
Type: Movie
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Sword for Hire
Title: Sword for Hire
Character: Oryo
Released: May 22, 1952
Type: Movie
Soldiers Hayate and Yaheiji secretly escape from their besieged castle. Hayate has left behind his lover, Kano. On his way, Hayate is wounded and cared for by O’Ryo, who falls in love with him. But when Hayate accidentally kills her caretaker, he flees, with O’Ryo in pursuit. Subsequently, Hayate's comrade Yaheiji falls in love with Oryo. Kano, the lover left behind by Hayate, believes him dead, and becomes involved with another soldier, Jurota. When Jurota defects to the opposing army, he takes Kano with him. A double set of love triangles has developed, wherein each man and each woman loves one and is loved by another. Finally only combat and self-sacrifice can untangle the weave.
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Foghorn
Title: Foghorn
Character: Chiyo (Hana)
Released: March 3, 1952
Type: Movie
A Japanese woman, the mistress of an American, falls in love with her servant.
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Japanese War Bride
Title: Japanese War Bride
Character: Tae Shimizu
Released: January 29, 1952
Type: Movie
A Korean war vet and his bride face subtle and sometimes extreme racism when they return to his home in rural California.
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Scandal
Title: Scandal
Character: Miyako Saijo
Released: April 26, 1950
Type: Movie
A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.
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Escape at Dawn
Title: Escape at Dawn
Character: Harumi
Released: January 8, 1950
Type: Movie
Mikami, a Japanese soldier, is captured by Chinese forces. Although able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers. After falling in love with a prostitute named Harumi, she convinces him to desert the army and live with her.
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Endless Passion
Title: Endless Passion
Character: Beautiful singer
Released: September 29, 1949
Type: Movie
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Ningen moyo
Title: Ningen moyo
Released: June 14, 1949
Type: Movie
A love triangle among a girl, her poor boyfriend, and a rich company president.
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The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
Title: The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
Released: September 26, 1948
Type: Movie
Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Dear Soldier
Title: Dear Soldier
Character: Singer
Released: June 16, 1944
Type: Movie
Two Korean conscripts undergo Imperial Japanese Army training, much to the pleasure of their families.
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My Nightingale
Title: My Nightingale
Character: Mariko
Released: March 24, 1944
Type: Movie
Sumida is separated from his wife and daughter when conflict erupts in Harbin. Years later, he finds that his wife passed away and her daughter was adopted by his friends at the Russian opera company.
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Sayon's Bell
Title: Sayon's Bell
Character: Sayon
Released: July 1, 1943
Type: Movie
Based on the true story of a 17-year old Atayal girl called Sayun Hayun from Nan'oku village, Giran district, Taihoku Prefecture (in current Taiwan) who went missing and was thought to have drowned whilst helping carry the luggage of her teacher Masaki Takita during a storm in 1938.
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Eternity
Title: Eternity
Character: 凤姑
Released: June 1, 1943
Type: Movie
The life and story of Lin Zexu and the First Opium War.
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Winter Jasmine
Title: Winter Jasmine
Released: March 21, 1942
Type: Movie
An inept and recently graduated Japanese man begins working in the administration of Manchuria, under the supervision of his uncle. Meanwhile, he becomes acquainted with both a Japanese and Manchurian woman.
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Suzhou Nights
Title: Suzhou Nights
Released: December 29, 1941
Type: Movie
A hostile Chinese nurse (Yamaguchi) who works in an orphanage is won over by the care and commitment of the Japanese doctor (Sano) who treats her wards. Disease outbreaks and family obligations, however, threaten to torpedo their budding romance.
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君と僕
Title: 君と僕
Character: Manchurian girl
Released: November 15, 1941
Type: Movie
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Oath on the Burning Sands
Title: Oath on the Burning Sands
Released: December 25, 1940
Type: Movie
A Japanese army engineer (Hasegawa) on the mainland must put his personal feelings for a beautiful Chinese woman (Ri) aside if he is to succeed at building a highway through the "bandit"- (aka anti-Japanese militia-) infested hinterlands.
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The Monkey King
Title: The Monkey King
Character: Oriental Woman
Released: November 6, 1940
Type: Movie
A legendary pre-war comedy operetta starring Enomoto Kenichi, Hideko Takamine and Li Xianglan. The Sanzo Ikkou continues its westward journey, on a mission to prevent a demonic resurrection. As Genjo Sanzo, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo, and Son Goku (Kenichi Enomoto) fight their way to their goal, their path is fraught with internal strife.
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Toyuki
Title: Toyuki
Character: Liqin, the Typist
Released: February 7, 1940
Type: Movie
Shot mostly in Tokyo, this comedy depicts two Chinese tourists who have travelled from their country to Japan in order to experience the latter country.
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China Night
Title: China Night
Released: January 2, 1940
Type: Movie
Wartime propaganda filmed by the Japanese in occupied China, Shirley Yamaguchi portrays an orphan rescued from the streets by a kindly Japanese merchant marine officer. Part spy thriller and part Shanghai travelogue, it was part of a popular series known as "Chinese Continental Friendship" made by the occupying Japanese in China.
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Song of the White Orchid
Title: Song of the White Orchid
Released: November 30, 1939
Type: Movie
Song of the White Orchid was a co-production of Toho and Mantetsu, the railway that served the colonial region of Manchuria, and the first film in the Kazuo Hasegawa/Shirley Yamaguchi (Ri Koran) “Continental Trilogy.” Handsome Hasegawa (representing Japan) runs up against an impertinent Yamaguchi (representing the continent); not surprisingly, in the course of the film the woman comes around and realizes the benevolent intentions of the Japanese. In Song of the White Orchid Yamaguchi leaves Hasegawa, who plays an expatriate working for the railway, because of a misunderstanding. She joins a communist guerilla group plotting to blow up the Manchurian railway. Learning of the subterfuge that led to the misunderstanding, she renews her faith in Hasegawa—and by extension Japan—and tries to undermine the plot.
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冤魂復仇
Title: 冤魂復仇
Released: January 1, 1939
Type: Movie
Revenge of wronged souls