Yoshiko Yamaguchi ???? OMOIDE NO BYAKURAN - Victor V-40303

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Yoshiko ?taka was born Yoshiko Yamaguchi (?? ???) to Japanese parents, (father, Fumio Yamaguchi ?? ??) who were then settlers in Fushun in Manchuria.

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 (???) and Pan Yugui (???). By Chinese custom for those who became sworn brothers, they also became Yoshiko's "godfathers" and bestowed upon her two Chinese names, Li Xianglan (???) and Pan Shuhua ???. ("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, Yoshiko 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 is a coloratura soprano.

Yoshiko made her debut as an actress and singer in the 1938 film Honeymoon Express ????, by Manchuria Film Production. She was billed as Li Xianglan (Chinese: ???; pinyin: L? X?anglán), pronounced Ri K?ran in Japanese. The adoption of a Chinese stage name was prompted by the Film company's economic and political motives—a Manchurian girl who had command over both the Japanese and Chinese languages was sought after. From this she rose to be a star and Japan-Manchuria Goodwill Ambassadress (??????). Though in her subsequent films she was almost exclusively billed as Li Xianglan, she indeed appeared in a few as "Yamaguchi Yoshiko." Many of her films bore some degree of promotion of the Japanese national policy (in particular pertaining to the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere ideology) and can be termed "National Policy Films" (????).

The 1940 film China Nights (????) also known as Shanghai Nights (????), by Manchuria Film Productions, is especially controversial. In this film, billed as Li Xianglan, Yoshiko portrayed a young woman of extreme anti-Japanese sentiment who came to fall in love with a Japanese man. A key turning point in the film has the young Chinese woman being slapped by the Japanese man, but instead of hatred, she reacts with gratitude. The film was met with great aversion among the Chinese audience as they believed that the Chinese female character was a sketch of debasement and inferiority. It is for this reason that to this day, one of her classic songs, "Suzhou Serenade" (????) is still banned in mainland China. A few years later, when confronted by angry Chinese reporters in Shanghai, Yoshiko apologized and cited as pretext her inexperienced youth at the time of filmmaking, choosing not to reveal her Japanese identity. Though her Japanese nationality was never divulged in the Chinese media until after the Sino-Japanese war, it was brought to light by Japanese press when she performed in Japan under her assumed Chinese name and as the Japan-Manchuria Goodwill Ambassadress. Oddly enough, when she visited Japan during this period, she was criticized for being too Chinese in dress and in language.

In 1942, Yoshiko appeared in the film Leaving a good name for posterity (????). The film was shot in Shanghai commemorating the centennial of the Opium War. A few top Chinese stars in Shanghai also appeared in the film and consequently endured the repercussion of controversy. The film was of anti-British nature and was a collaboration between Chinese and Japanese film companies. Nonetheless, its anti-colonization undertone might also be interpreted as a satire of the Japanese expansion in east Asia. Regardless, the film was a hit and Yoshiko became a national sensation. Her film theme songs with jazz/pop-like arrangements such as "Candy-Peddling Song" (???) and "Quitting (opium) Song" (???) elevated her status to be among the top singers in all Chinese-speaking regions in Asia overnight. Many songs recorded by Yoshiko during her Shanghai period became evergreen classics in Chinese popular music history. Other noteworthy hits include "Tuberoses"/"Fragrance of the Night" (???), "Ocean Bird" ("Petrel") (??), "If Only" (???????), and "Second Dream" (???). By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars

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