Divas: Yoshiko Yamaguchi

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Yoshiko Yamaguchi (1920-2014) was a Japanese actress and singer who rose to fame in China during the 1930s and 1940s. Her Japanese identity was hidden and used in propaganda films to promote Japanese influence in occupied territories. After the war, Yamaguchi became a prominent Japanese politician and advocate for Sino-Japanese reconciliation.

For Further Reading:

This month, we're diving into the "Divas" of history, examining how the label has been used from many angles, whether describing women pejoratively... or with admiration.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, and Vanessa Handy. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Arnold Schwarzenegger is many things.
0:02.2	But did you know that he was once the director?
0:04.8	And that the only film he has ever directed is a 1992 made-for-TV remake of Christmas in Connecticut.
0:11.4	Nobody calls it the biggest star in the world who says, hey, they want to direct your TV movie.
0:15.1	On our revisionist history Christmas special this year, we are telling the really very funny story behind the making of the most
0:20.9	improbable Christmas movie of all time.
0:23.2	The first thing out of his mouth is, so what have you guys been doing since Commando?
0:30.0	Clearly not going to the gym.
0:33.5	You can hear it all right now on the Revision's History Podcasts.
0:38.2	Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:48.8	Hello, from WonderMedia Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:58.0	This month, we're diving into the divas of history, examining how the label has been used with many angles,
1:05.0	whether describing women pejoratively or with admiration.
1:10.0	Before diva meant a woman who's demanding and difficult to work with,
1:15.0	it was the Italian word for goddess. In the 19th century, it came to describe highly admired and
1:22.2	talented female opera singers, especially sopranos, who some would describe as goddess-like.
1:29.4	Today we're talking about a woman whose voice made her a diva, but whose life brought her fame to
1:35.2	new heights. Let's talk about Yoshiko Yamaguchi.
1:48.3	Yoshiko was born on February 12th, 1920, in China.
1:54.4	The province where she was born, Manchuria, was a Japanese colony, and her parents were Japanese settlers.
2:02.2	They had become close friends with two distinguished Chinese men who they decided to make Yoshiko's godfathers.
2:07.4	Her godfathers gave her the Chinese name, Li Shenglan.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Acast Creative Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Acast Creative Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.