Ri Kôran

Ri Kôran (2007) blends Drama elements. Top cast includes Aya Ueto, Isao Hashizume, and Yūko Natori. It draws from real-world events while keeping the focus on character stakes.

Actor: Aya Ueto • Genre: Drama movies

Tells the story of Yamaguchi Yoshiko, a Japanese woman born and raised in China during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. She debuts as the Chinese singer and actress Li Xianglan (Ri Kouran in Japanese), in the hopes that her efforts will work towards the benefit of both Japan and China. Hiding her true nationality, however, she slowly discovers herself becoming a puppet of the Japanese military's propaganda efforts in Manchuria, starring in "national policy" films that humiliate the Chinese people. But billed as the "star of Greater East Asia," her popularity soars across borders to Japan, where she holds a concert that draws thousands to the Nihon Gekijou Theatre and leads to a riot that injures several people. Based on her autobiography, this is the story of her personal struggle amidst military strife between her two homelands.