Shirley Yamaguchi

Born in 1920 in Manchuria, China, into a Japanese family, Yoshiko “Shirley” Yamaguchi hid her ethnic origin when she tried to make her way as an actress, presenting herself as Chinese, under the nickname Li Xianglan. When the country was occupied by the Japanese, she starred in various propaganda films in favor of the invaders, becoming a popular figure in the country. She also made waves as a singer, to the point that her song “Ye Lai Xiang” (night fragrance) is still remembered in the East.

Certainly, the life of the interpreter seems like something out of a movie, because after the defeat of Japan, she was tried and was about to be sentenced to death for betraying her country. She was saved from her because she revealed her Japanese origins. This story was recreated in a musical in Tokyo, and inspired the fictional novel “The China Lover” by Ian Buruma.

After the war, she was recruited by the prestigious Akira Kurosawa , who made her the lead along with her fetish actor, Toshiro Mifune , in Scandal , where she was a famous opera singer photographed unexpectedly by a paparazzi. King Vidor signed her to Hollywood as the lead actress in Japanese War Wife , where her character married an American military man who took her to her hometown.

In the movie mecca, he also filmed La casa de bamboo , one of Samuel Fuller ‘s best titles , where he accompanied Robert Ryan , who was an undercover police officer in the Tokyo crime syndicate. Shirley Yamaguchi played a thief’s widow, who had an affair with the agent.

Despite the success of the film, the actress returned to Japan right after, where she retired three years later, after marrying Isamu Noguchi, a famous sculptor with whom she moved to a luxurious residence in Kita-Kakakura. After divorcing, years later she married businessman Hiroshi Otaka, and was elected a member of the Japanese parliament.