Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Acting

Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Born 1920-02-12 · 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.

Acting credits

The Unforgettable Night poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Unforgettable Night

1958

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

The Lady of Mystery poster
9.0

Spies, Military Documents and Traitors.

The Lady of Mystery

1957

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

Foghorn poster
10.0

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

Foghorn

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

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

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood poster
5.7

A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

2019

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

Honeymoon Express poster
NR

This film was Japanese-Chinese Yamaguchi Yoshiko's screen debut and was filmed with the participation of an entirely Chinese cast.

Honeymoon Express

1938

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

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

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

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

Retribution of the Vengeful Spirit poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Retribution of the Vengeful Spirit

1939

Dear Soldier poster
8.0

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

Dear Soldier

1944

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

You and I poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

You and I

1941

Return poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Return

1949

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

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

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

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

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