Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Acting

Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Born — Died

1920-02-12 — 2014-09-07

Place of birth

Fushun, Manchuria

Known for

Acting

Credits

51 titles

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…

Known for

Film credits

1950s · 20 titles

House of Bamboo poster
6.2

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.

House of Bamboo

1955

The Legend of the White Serpent poster
6.1

Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form.

The Legend of the White Serpent

1956

Scandal poster
6.9

A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.

Scandal

1950

Japanese War Bride poster
6.0

A Korean war vet and his bride face subtle and sometimes extreme racism when they return to his home in rural California.

Japanese War Bride

1952

Holiday in Tokyo poster
9.0

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.

Holiday in Tokyo

1958

Sword for Hire poster
6.7

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.

Sword for Hire

1952

One Thousand Ryo Ship in the Wind and  Clouds poster
9.0

1952 Japanese movie

One Thousand Ryo Ship in the Wind and Clouds

1952

Escape at Dawn poster
6.0

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.

Escape at Dawn

1950

Shanghai Rose poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Shanghai Rose

1952

Husband Comes Home Every Suturday poster
10.0

The story follows a dysfunctional family whose daily life is thrown into chaos when an English tutor from abroad moves into their home. Her presence awakens hidden desires, jealousy, and emotional conflicts among the father, mother, and children, gradually transforming the entire household. At its heart, the film explores love, rivalry, and the longing for a new beginning.

Husband Comes Home Every Suturday

1954

Foghorn poster
10.0

A Japanese woman, the mistress of an American, falls in love with her servant.

Foghorn

1952

Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness poster
10.0

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.

Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness

1958

John Gunther's High Road poster
10.0

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.

John Gunther's High Road

1959

No artwork available
NR

1958 Toei movie.

The Nameless Man

1958

The Last Embrace poster
10.0

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.

The Last Embrace

1953

The Unforgettable Night poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Unforgettable Night

1958

Navy Wife poster
7.0

Japanese women, seeng how well American soldiers stationed in their country treat their wives, demand the same from their husbands.

Navy Wife

1956

The Lady of Mystery poster
9.0

Spies, Military Documents and Traitors.

The Lady of Mystery

1957

Onna no ryūkō poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Onna no ryūkō

1950

First Love Questions and Answers poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

First Love Questions and Answers

1950

1940s · 22 titles

China Night poster
10.0

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.

China Night

1940

The Monkey King poster
7.0

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.

The Monkey King

1940

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life poster
9.0

Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob.

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life

1948

Travels to the East poster
8.0

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.

Travels to the East

1940

Endless Passion poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Endless Passion

1949

Sayon's Bell poster
9.0

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.

Sayon's Bell

1943

Field Army Orchestra poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Field Army Orchestra

1944

Oath on the Burning Sands poster
7.5

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.

Oath on the Burning Sands

1940

Winter Jasmine poster
10.0

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.

Winter Jasmine

1942

Ningen moyo poster
7.0

A love triangle among a girl, her poor boyfriend, and a rich company president.

Ningen moyo

1949

You and I poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

You and I

1941

The Yellow River poster
NR

Shot on location in the war zone of Liuyuankou in the suburbs of Kaifeng, Henan Province.

The Yellow River

1942

Dear Soldier poster
8.0

Two Korean conscripts undergo Imperial Japanese Army training, much to the pleasure of their families.

Dear Soldier

1944

The Lucky Chair poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Lucky Chair

1948

No artwork available
NR

A musical film marking Yoshiko Yamaguchi's debut at Daiei.

Jōnetsu no ningyo

1948

Return poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Return

1949

My Nightingale poster
6.5

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.

My Nightingale

1944

Shooting Star poster
9.0

Based on that testimony, an investigation is launched in the entertainment district, and through a brief conversation between Toda and Nanako at the cabaret "R-Red," it becomes apparent that her lover, Kaneda, is suspicious. Toda and Kaneda are, in fact, members of the gang currently being frantically pursued by the Metropolitan Police. Their leader is a ruthless man named Yoshio Matsui, known as "Tetsu the Murakumo," who has his mistress, Aiko, working as a singer at this cabaret. Kaneda, using his leg injury caused by Detective Mishima as leverage, demands a large sum of money from Tetsu, but is instead met with gunfire from Tetsu's gang. Upon hearing the gunshots, Officer Fujita, who was patrolling nearby, gives chase. As Kaneda lies dying, he reveals the truth before drawing his last breath. With this near-confirmation, Fujita puts out an all-points bulletin for Tetsu.

Shooting Star

1949

Eternity poster
8.0

The life and story of Lin Zexu and the First Opium War.

Eternity

1943

Suzhou Nights poster
10.0

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.

Suzhou Nights

1941

Chorus of Prayer poster
NR

1943 japanese movie.

Chorus of Prayer

1943

The Fighting Street poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Fighting Street

1943

1930s · 5 titles

Series credits