China / Japan: Li Xianglan, Japanese name Yoshiko oŒtaka (born February 12, 1920) is a...

Yoshiko made her debut as an actress and singer in the 1938 film Honeymoon Express. She was billed as Li Xianglan, pronounced Ri Koran in Japanese. The adoption of a Chinese stage name was prompted by the Film company's economic and political motives-a Manchurian girl who had command over both the Japanese and Chinese languages was sought after. From this she rose to be a star and Japan-Manchuria Goodwill Ambassadress. Though in her subsequent films she was almost exclusively billed as Li Xianglan; she indeed appeared in a few as 'Yamaguchi Yoshiko.' Many of her films bore some degree of promotion of the Japanese national policy (in particular pertaining to the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere ideology).