Singer-actress Ri Koran expresses her wish for Sino-Japanese peace after the performance of her namesake musical drama on Thursday March 20, 2008 in Tokyo. The 88-year-old Ri Koran was born in China in 1920. [Photo: China News Service]
The legendary singer Ri Koran (Yoshiko Yamaguchi or Li Xianglan in Chinese) attended opening night for the musical drama based on her life, Thursday in Tokyo.
The 88-year-old Ri Koran told the China News Service that Japan is her motherland, although she was born in China. She loves both countries and hopes that the people especially the youth can face history squarely and treasure peace.
Ri Koran is a China-born Japanese singer. To justify its aggression against China, Japan promoted propaganda that China needed a Japanese presence in order to develop. As part of the propaganda, Ri Koran took the Chinese name Li Xianglan and became a Pan-Asian star. She appeared in several of Japan's propaganda films as a Chinese girl.
The musical drama named after Ri Koran is an exact documentary of her life and more vivid than a textbook, says the famed singer-actress.
In 1992, the 20th anniversary of normalization in Sino-Japanese relations, the musical classic was staged in China and was welcomed by the Chinese audiences.
