In my previous blog, I introduced to you Kawakami Utayako, who was Japan’s first modern actress. Here, I would like to write about Hara Setsuko (1920-2015) and Yamaguchi Yoshiko (1920-2014) also known as Li Hsiang Lan before the war.

First comes Hara Setsuko. She was born in 1920 in Yokohama and raised with seven elder siblings. At the age of fifteen, Hara was advised to act in a movie by a film director who had married her elder sister. So, she debuted for the first time in 1935. 

                                                      1954

Thereafter, Hara acted in many other movies. Reflecting geopolitical situations at that time, Hara acted as a heroine in a film jointly made by Japan and Germany in 1937 under the directorship of Arnold Fanck and Itami Mansaku. The film was entitled “New Soil.” 

                                           A poster for “New Soil”

                                                        1939

During the war, Hara appeared in several propaganda war films. It was after the war that her fame flourished with such iconic directors like Kurosawa Akira among others. She also starred in a number of films about ordinary family life that were directed by another master, Ozu Yasujiro. A poster of one such film is shown here.

She retired abruptly at the age of only 43 soon after the death of Ozu Yasujiro in 1963. Hara shied away from public appearance for the rest of her life. She did not marry and died in Kamakura at the age of 95. Some say that Hara’s life resembles that of the iconic Hollywood star, Greta Garbo (she retired from acting at the age of 35).  

                                                              1940s

Now comes Yamaguchi Yoshiko. She was born in northern China in 1920 to Japanese parents. As she grew Yamaguchi became bilingual in Japanese and Chinese. She debuted as an actress and singer under the name of Li Hsiang Lan, in Manchuria in 1938. Instantly, she became popular both in Japan and Manchuria; she was regarded as a Chinese, speaking Japanese fluently. In 1943, Yamaguchi starred and sung in a joint Chinese and Manchurian movie about the Opium war. This was a smash hit and made her an unquestionable heroine in China.     

 Leading Chinese singers including Li Hsiang Lan third from the right,

 1940s.

                     A poster by a Japanese cosmetics company in 1940 

When the war ended in 1945, Yamaguchi was put before a military tribunal in China on a treason charge as she was believed to be Chinese. Yamaguchi was acquitted only when she proved herself to be Japanese. Soon after returning to Japan, she resumed acting, as Yamaguchi Yoshiko, appearing in various movies with stars including the iconic Mifune Toshiro. Interestingly enough, Yamaguchi managed to act in the US as Shirley Yamaguchi and as Li Hsiang Lan again in Hong Kong from 1951 to 1958. Yamaguchi retired from acting in 1958 when she remarried a Japanese diplomat.

Did she live quietly ever after like Hara Setsuko? Not in the least. Yamaguchi resumed her activities as a TV host for an afternoon show in 1969. It was during her stint when she witnessed the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and China in 1972, she was moved to tears. In 1974, she turned to politics by being elected as a member of the upper house (the House of Councilors). She finally retired as a politician in 1992. Thereafter, Yamaguchi participated in a women’s rights movement. Her flamboyant life came to an end in 2014 at the age of 94. Incidentally, Yamaguchi’s first husband was a Japanese American sculptor, Isamu Noguchi from 1951-1956.  

                                                        1949

                    1949                                                         1950

Home......