Li Xiang-Lan

b. Yoshika ôtaka, 12 February 1920, Fushun, China. A daughter of Japanese residents in China, Ôtaka first performed as an singing actress in 1938 soon after the Sino-Japanese war began, and was forced to pass herself off as a Chinese with the name of Li Xianglan (pronounced as Li Kôlan in Japan) in the late 30s in Manchuria, which had been politically shunted into declaring independence by the Japanese government. Fluent both in Chinese and Japanese and with attractive looks, Li had her stardom secured when she made her appearance in Japan, playing and singing in such movies a...