Shirley Yamaguchi was born to Japanese parents in Manchuria in 1920. She used the Chinese name Li Xianglan , remain popular even today. After the Japanese surrendered she escaped treason and possible execution by revealing her Japanese heritage.
After her marriage to famed Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, they moved into a house in Kita-Kamakura provided by Japanese potter and epicure Kitaoji Rosanjin.
She was elected to the first of several terms in the House of Councillors, the upper body of Japans parliament in 1974. Her life story has been made into a musical that has appeared on Tokyo stages.
Ian Burumas novel, "The China Lover," is a fictional recreation of Shirley Yamaguchis life and career.
She moved to the USA in 1950s and appeared on stage at several Broadway plays and on screen in several films and also collaborated with Hong Kongs Shaw Brothers for several films from that territory.
First as a journalist and later as a politician in Japan displayed interest in working on Palestinian issues and concerns.
While living in the USA befriended Charlie Chaplin and would later be barred from travel back into the country as a result as the American comedian was identified as a pacifist and a communist.
