Divas: Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Yoshiko Yamaguchi (1920-2014) was a Japanese actress and singer who rose to fame in China during the 1930s and 1940s. Her Japanese identity was hidden and used in propaganda films to promote Japanese influence in occupied territories. After the war, Yamaguchi became a prominent Japanese politician and advocate for Sino-Japanese reconciliation.

For Further Reading:

• Yoshiko Yamaguchi, 94, Actress in Propaganda Films, Dies

• Yoshiko Yamaguchi: The Singer, Actress and Politician Who Loved Japan and China

• Looking Back on My Days as Ri Koran (Li Xianglan)

This month, we're diving into the "Divas" of history, examining how the label has been used from many angles, whether describing women pejoratively... or with admiration. 

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, and Vanessa Handy. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're diving into the divas of history,
examining how the label has been used with many angles,
whether describing women pejoratively or with admiration. Before diva meant
a woman who's demanding and difficult to work with, it

(00:31):
was the Italian word for goddess. In the nineteenth century,
it came to describe highly admired and talented female opera singers,
especially sopranos, who some would describe as goddess. Like today,
we're talking about a woman whose voice made her a diva,
but whose life brought her fame to new heights. Let's

(00:54):
talk about Yoshiko Yamaguchi. Yoshiko was born on February twelfth,
nineteen twenty, in China. The province where she was born
in Manchuria was a Japanese colony, and her parents were
Japanese settlers. They had become close friends with two distinguished

(01:15):
Chinese men, who they decided to make Yoshiko's godfathers. Her
godfathers gave her the Chinese name Lie chang Lan. Although
she was Japanese, Yoshika was taught to embrace Chinese people
in culture. Her father taught her Mandarin, and when she
was around seven or eight years old, she left her
Japanese school to attend an all girls Chinese school. When

(01:39):
Yoshika was eleven years old, Japan invaded Manchuria and seized
control of the territory. For Yoshiko, life continued relatively normally
until she contracted tuberculosis and the course of her life changed.
A doctor suggested she do vocal exercises to strengthen her breathing,

(02:00):
so Yoshiko began singing lessons with Italian opera soprano Madame Podrasov.
Her talent was undeniable by the time Yoshiko was thirteen
years old. Anti Japanese sentiment in China was strong. Yoshiko

(02:20):
tried to hide anything that identified her as Japanese. She
must have succeeded. In nineteen thirty four, a radio station
recruited her to sing Chinese songs. She used her Chinese
name Lee Chung Lan as her stage name. Yoshiko was
considered a coloratura soprano because of her voice's agility and flexibility.

(02:46):
She was able to sing fast musical passages at a
very high register. Her voice landed her on the radar
of a film studio, Manchuria Film Association. This Japanese film
studio primarily produced political films, dramas, and documentaries. For eighteen
year old Yoshiko, this was just another opportunity to further

(03:09):
her career. Yoshiko, using her Chinese pseudonym Lie chang Lan,
became the production house Darling. Her singing ability set her
apart from other actresses. Most of her films were propaganda films.
In them, she played beautiful young Chinese women who fell
in love with Japanese soldiers. These films aimed to portray

(03:32):
Japan as China's protector, even at a time when the
Japanese military was mistreating the Chinese people. In the nineteen
forty film China Nights, Yoshiko plays an orphan who inevitably
falls in love with the Japanese naval officer who takes
her in. In one scene, the officer hits her, she responds,
it didn't hurt at all to be hit by you.

(03:54):
I was happy. Happy. When it came to the subliminal
message of these movies, Yoshiko was naive. In an interview
she did years later, she said, I thought my films
were simple romances. I thought I was working for the
good of the Manchurian people. The studio knew Yoshiko's Japanese,

(04:18):
but they presented her as a Chinese woman to serve
as a proxy for the young Chinese women living in
occupied Manchuria. Yoshiko's character was both hated and loved by
Chinese and Japanese viewers with their own relationships to Japanese occupation,
but her nineteen forty two film Eternity stood out as
a joint Japanese Chinese production. It honored the one hundredth

(04:40):
anniversary of the Opium War. The film was distinctly anti British.
It was a huge success in China and Japan. Virtually overnight,
Yoshiko became one of China's most popular singers. But Yoshiko's

(05:02):
talent wasn't enough to stop her impending prosecution. After World
War Two, Chinese authorities arrested and charged Yoshiko with treason.
They accused her of collaborating with the Japanese as a
Chinese citizen. They threw her in prison to await her
public execution. Then her family got a hold of her

(05:24):
birth certificate proving that she was a Japanese citizen. They
smuggled the document into Shanghai. According to some sources, in
the head of a geisha doll, her Japanese citizenship exonerated her.
Yoshiko was free to go, but her career in China

(05:46):
was over. In nineteen forty six, Yoshiko started over in Japan.
She gave a public apology for her part in the war,
making her one of the first prominent Japanese citizens to
cat in front Japan's history of occupation. Yoshiko also became
a leading voice on reparations for Korean women forced into

(06:07):
sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during
World War II. When it came to her entertainment career,
Yoshiko wasn't finished. In the late nineteen forties, her career
bounced back in Hong Kong and Japan. Then in nineteen
fifty Yoshiko went to the US to act, Using the

(06:30):
stage name Shirley. She starred in two Hollywood movies and
a Broadway musical. Yoshiko married a Japanese diplomat in nineteen
fifty seven. She retired from acting that year, but she
stayed busy. She worked as a Japanese talk show host
and then as a journalist and news anchor in the sixties.

(06:51):
Then in nineteen seventy four, Yoshiko was elected to the
upper house of the Japanese Parliament as a member of
the Liberal Democratic Party. Advocated for improving Japan's relationship with China.
She held the two countries very close for Yoshiko. China
was her home country and Japan was her ancestral country.

(07:13):
After three terms, she retired from parliament. Yoshiko Yamaguchi died
on September seventh, twenty fourteen, in Tokyo. She was ninety
four years old. All month We're talking about divas. For
more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica
podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and
co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.