TOKYO (AP) β Japanese film idol Yoshiko Yamaguchi, who was known as Rikoran and symbolized Japan’s dreams of Asian conquest, has died at age 94.
Known as Shirley Yamaguchi in the U.S. and one of biggest Japanese film stars during and after World War II, Yamaguchi died of heart failure Sept. 7, according to Japan’s public NHK television.
Born to Japanese parents in northern China in 1920 and raised in Japan’s wartime puppet state Manchukuo, Yamaguchi debuted as a Chinese singer Li Xianglan β Rikoran in Japanese β and starred in Chinese-language films made by Japanese-run Manchurian Cinema Association.
Widely believed to be Chinese, she was a star in Asia, and appeared in two Hollywood films and on Broadway during the 1950s. Yamaguchi was a Liberal Democratic Party parliamentarian in 1974-1992.
