Ri Kōran
| Yoshiko Yamaguchi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Chinese name | 李香蘭 (traditional) |
| Chinese name | 李香兰 (simplified) |
| Pinyin | Lǐ Xiānglán (Mandarin) |
| Birth name | Yoshiko Yamaguchi |
| Born |
12 February 1920 Fushun, Manchuria, China |
| Died | 7 September 2014 (aged 94) Tokyo, Japan |
| Other name(s) | Yoshiko Ōtaka (大鷹 淑子) Pan Shuhua (潘淑華) Shirley Yamaguchi |
| Occupation | Singer, actress, politician |
| Genre(s) | Popular |
| Voice type(s) | Soprano |
| Years active | 1938–1958 |
| Spouse(s) |
Isamu Noguchi (1951–1956) Hiroshi Otaka (1958–2001) |
| Parents | Fumio Yamaguchi (山口 文雄) Ai Yamaguchi (山口 アイ) |
| Ancestry | Kishima District, Saga, Japan |
Yoshiko Yamaguchi (12 February 1920 – 7 September 2014) was a Chinese-born Japanese actress and singer who made a career in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States.
Early in her career, the Manchukuo Film Association concealed her Japanese origin and she went by the Chinese name Li Xianglan, 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.
She was elected as a member of the Japanese parliament in the 1970s and served for 18 years. After retiring from politics, she served as vice president of the Asian Women's Fund.
Yoshiko Yamaguchi (山口 淑子?) was born to Japanese parents, (father, Fumio Yamaguchi 山口 文雄) who were then settlers in Fushun, Manchuria, Republic of China.
Fumio Yamaguchi was an employee of the South Manchuria Railway. From an early age, Yoshiko was exposed to Mandarin Chinese. Fumio Yamaguchi had some influential Chinese acquaintances, among whom were Li Jichun (李際春) and Pan Yugui (潘毓桂). By Chinese custom for those who became sworn brothers, they also became Yoshiko's "godfathers" （also known as "nominal fathers"）and bestowed upon her two Chinese names, Li Xianglan (Li Hsiang-lan) and Pan Shuhua (潘淑華). ("Shu" in Shuhua and "Yoshi" in Yoshiko are written with the same Chinese character). Yoshiko later used the former name as a stage name and assumed the latter name while she was staying with the Pan family in Beijing.
As a youth Yoshiko suffered a bout of tuberculosis. In order to strengthen her breathing, the doctor recommended voice lessons. Her father initially insisted on traditional Japanese music, but Yoshiko preferred Western music and thus received her initial classical vocal education from an Italian dramatic soprano (Madame Podresov, married into White Russian nobility). She later received schooling in Beijing, polishing her Mandarin, accommodated by the Pan family. She was a coloratura soprano.
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