李香蘭における映画と政治

Abstract

Yoshiko Yamaguchi (Lee Xianglan/Ri Kōran, 1920-2014) was a transnational movie star and a famous pop singer in East Asia during and after WWII. During the time when Japan invaded China, she presented herself as ethnic Chinese, using her Chinese name Lee Xianglan. During this time, she played roles in Japanese policy films such as Shina no yoru (China Nights, 1940), Wangshiliufang (Eternity, 1943), and Watashi no uguisu (My Nightingale, 1943/4), that were produced by the Manchukuo Film Association. Her film career continued after the war, appearing in Hollywood films and Hong Kong films such as Japanese War Bride (1952) and Akatsuki no dassō (Escape at dawn, 1950) respectively. In this series of films, she performed characters, whose identity was represented at the intersections of nation and gender; and at times, her characters promoted Japanese war propaganda, instigating people to contribute to the war materialistically and spiritually. After she had retired, she became a newscaster and a congresswoman in Japan involving in the comfort women issue and Japan’s diplomatic relations with the Middle East. Interestingly, however, she often displayed her ‘actress-like’ performances even when she was a politician. In this paper, I examine Yamaguchi’s career in cinema and politics in which she performed her gender and ethnic identity in the national context.