Li Xianglan (Yamaguchi Yoshiko)

Li Xianglan was born on February 12, 1920 in Fushun City, China. In 1933, Li Xianglan was adopted as an adopted daughter by her father's sworn brother, General Li Jichun, manager of Shenyang Bank, and was named "Li Xianglan" in Chinese. In the same year, Li Xianglan suffered from lung disease. Later, she followed her friend’s advice and started learning vocal music from a Russian lady. She once won the first prize in the "Manchukuo" pop song award competition. Li Xianglan is also the adopted daughter of Tianjin Mayor Pan Yugui. She studied at Peking Yijiao Girls' Middle School under the name Pan Shuhua and graduated in 1937. However, she never disclosed her life experience, and no Chinese people knew of her Japanese ancestry. She spoke in standard Beijing movies, and was regarded as an authentic Beijinger. In 1937, the Manchuria Film and Television Association was established. Li Xianglan entered the "Manchukuo" film industry and filmed many movies, thus becoming the number one acting star at that time. In 1942, she went to Shanghai to develop her career, and appeared on the stage under the name Li Xianglan. She filmed the classic movie "Eternal Fragrance" and sang the lead vocals in the movie theme song "The Candy Song" and the interlude "Song to Quit Smoking", making it popular all over China; in 1944 , Li Xianglan collaborated with Li Jinguang in Shanghai to release the famous song "Ye Lai Xiang", becoming one of the "Five Queens of Songs" in Shanghai along with Zhou Xuan, Bai Guang, Zhang Lu and Wu Yingyin. In 1945, when Japan was defeated, Li Xianglan was arrested on charges of being a traitor, but was later acquitted because of her status as a Japanese citizen. Li Xianglan was deported back to Japan in February 1946. In 1947, she changed her original name to Yoshiko Yamaguchi to continue her acting career. In 1958, her husband's surname became Otaka Shuko, and she bid farewell to the stage and turned to politics. In 1974, Yamaguchi Yoshiko was nominated by the Liberal Democratic Party and elected to the Japanese Senate. She has successively served as Parliamentary Secretary for Environmental Protection, Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Okinawa and Northern Issues, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, etc. Li Xianglan (Yamaguchi Yoshiko) is known to have passed away at the age of 94.