About Yoshiko Yamaguchi
Hometown
Fushun, China
Born
February 12, 1920
Genre
Pop
b. Yoshika ôtaka, 12 February 1920, Fushun, China. A daughter of Japanese residents in China, Ôtaka first performed as an singing actress in 1938 soon after the Sino-Japanese war began, and was forced to pass herself off as a Chinese with the name of Li Xianglan (pronounced as Li Kôlan in Japan) in the late 30s in Manchuria, which had been politically shunted into declaring independence by the Japanese government. Fluent both in Chinese and Japanese and with attractive looks, Li had her stardom secured when she made her appearance in Japan, playing and singing in such movies as Byakuranno Uta (Song Of White Orchids) (1939) and Shinano Yoru (A Night In China) (1940), the stories of which tried to strengthen the ties of friendship between Japan and China. The theme song of Shinano Yoru was tremendously popular. After World War II, she was summoned to a Chinese military court under suspicion of co-operating with the Japanese government in its policy of aggression, but she won an acquittal by proving that her nationality was Japanese. Renaming herself Yoshiko Yamaguchi, she continued her active career as a singer and film actress, and became internationally known after moving to the USA in 1954, appearing in Hollywood films and getting married to a renowned visual artist, Isamau Noguchi. Yamaguchi retired in 1958 to remarry Hirshi Ôtaka, a diplomatic official, and later became involved in socio-political affairs, especially regarding the Palestinian/Israeli problem. In 1974, she successfully ran for the Upper House of the Japanese parliament, and is still an active Member of the House.
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