Manchu princess, Japanese spy : the story of Kawashima Yoshiko, the cross-dressing spy who commanded her own army

271 Pages·2015·73.88 MB·English

by  Birnbaum

6.125 × 9.25 SPINE: 0.9688 FLAPS: 3.5
(continued from front flap)
her role as political provocateur. China holds
M
her responsible for unspeakable crimes, while
A
Japan has forgiven her transgressions. this
n
biography presents the richest and most c
Phyllis
accurate portrait to date of the controversial Praise for h
U
princess spy, recognizing her truly novel role
MAnchU PrinceSS , JAPAneSe SPy Birnbaum
in conflicts that transformed east Asia. P
r
Aisin Gioro Xianyu
i
“Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy is an even-handed biographical
n MAnchU
study of a fascinating woman who may have been a secret agent during the c (1907–1948) was the fourteenth daughter
pacific War. phyllis Birnbaum covers Kawashima Yoshiko’s background e of a Manchu prince and a legendary figure
S
in China’s bloody struggle with Japan. After
n as a Manchu princess and her further adventures after being S PrinceSS,
o the fall of the Manchu dynasty in 1912,
s adopted in Japan in detail, using virtually every primary source
n ,
h Xianyu’s father gave his daughter to a Jap-
o available, as well as novels based on her life.”
r J J anese friend who was sympathetic to his
o —Janine Beichman, Daito Bunka University, tokyo A JAPAneSe
v
e P efforts to reclaim power. this man raised
r
t
© A Xianyu, now known as Kawashima Yoshiko,
o “richly illustrated with rare photos, and enlivened by numerous n
ot SPy to restore the Manchus to their former glory.
h interviews, phyllis Birnbaum’s book is a balanced, well-written biography e
p S The Story of her fearsome dedication to this cause ulti-
Phyllis Birnbaum is a novelist, of one of the most notorious figures to emerge in the early twentieth- e mately got her killed.

biographer, journalist, and translator. her century contest for empire in northeast Asia. Anyone interested S Kawashima yoshiko, Yoshiko had a fiery personality and loved
P
work has appeared in The New Yorker, The in the personal dimension of sino-Japanese relations during the period the limelight. she shocked Japanese society by
y
the cross-Dressing
Times Literary Supplement, and other pub- of their most problematic intensity will find much profit in reading dressing in men’s clothes and rose to promi-

lications. her books include Modern Girls, these stories of the life of Kawashima Yoshiko, many told nence as Commander Jin, touted in Japan’s
Spy Who commanded
Shining Stars, the Skies of Tokyo: Five Japa- through the memories of the men and women who loved B media as a new Joan of Arc. Boasting a short,
i
nese Women and a biography, Glory in a Line: her and hated her, often at the same time.” r handsome haircut and a genuine military uni-
her Own Army
n
A Life of Foujita—the Artist Caught Between form, Commander Jin was credited with many
—Mark C. elliott, harvard University
b
East and West. she recently edited an english a daring exploits, among them riding horseback
translation of Clouds Above the Hill: A Histor- u as leader of her own army during the Japanese
m
ical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War. she lives occupation of China.
outside of Boston. While trying to promote the Manchus,
Yoshiko supported the puppet Manchu state
established by the Japanese in 1932—one rea-
son she was executed for treason after Japan’s
1945 defeat. the truth of Yoshiko’s life is
still a source of contention between China
Jacket image: © the Asahi shimbun/ Asia Perspectives:
History, Society, and Culture and Japan: some believe she was exploited
the Asahi shimbun via Getty Images
Columbia University Press New York by powerful men, others claim she relished
Jacket design: Catherine Casalino
cup.columbia.edu
Printed in the U.S.A. cOlUMBiA (continued on back flap)
Manchu
Princess,
JaPanese
sPy
asia PersPectives
Weatherhead east asian institute,
columbia university
Kawashima Yoshiko, around 1933 Courtesy Hokari Kashio
Phyllis
Birnbaum
Manchu
Princess,
JaPanese
sPy
the story of
Kawashima yoshiko,
the cross-Dressing
spy Who commanded
her Own army
columbia university Press
new york
asia PersPectives: histOry, sOciety, anD culture
A Series of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
carOl GlucK, eDitOr
Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery in the Japanese Military
During World War II, by Yoshimi Yoshiaki, trans. Suzanne O’Brien
The World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japanese Society,
by Pierre François Souyri, trans. Kathe Roth
Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan,
by Donald Keene
Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star: The Story of a Woman, Sex, and Moral Values
in Modern Japan, by William Johnston
Lhasa: Streets with Memories, by Robert Barnett
Frog in the Well: Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan, 1793–1841,
by Donald Keene
The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan, ed. and trans.
Rebecca L. Copeland and Melek Ortabasi
So Lovely a Country Will Never Perish: Wartime Diaries of Japanese Writers,
by Donald Keene
Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon: A Geopolitical Prehistory of J-Pop,
by Michael K. Bourdaghs
The Winter Sun Shines In: A Life of Masaoka Shiki, by Donald Keene
FOr ashOK

cOntents
Main Characters ix
Chronology xi
A Note on the Text xiii
1. BOrn tO chaOs 1
2. little sister 7
3. rOyalty in exile 13
4. cOntinental aDventurer 23
5. a neW liFe in JaPan 34
6. Manchu Prince, JaPanese WiFe 39
7. schOOl Days 43
8. the Beauty in Men’s clOthinG 54
9. extreMe Measures 69
10. rePercussiOns 77
11. On her OWn 83
12. POisOnOus Devil’s BreW 91
13. aDvance intO Manchuria 96
14. an eMPerOr in Flux 100
15. the reluctant eMPress 105
16. POWerFul cOnnectiOns 112
17. WOMan OF inFluence 123
18. a GrOWinG aWareness 132
19. cOMManDer Jin 138
20. startinG Over in ManchuKuO 146
21. in the BriGht liGht 152
22. WilD chilD 160
23. a DauGhter lOOKs BacK 170
24. china niGhts 175
25. eMerGency helP 184
Contents
26. an OlD lOve 190
27. aDriFt in FuKuOKa 196
28. hOPeFul tO the enD 200
29. narrOW escaPes 203
30. POstWar Justice 209
31. GO With a sMile 220
Notes 225
Acknowledgments 243
Index 245
| viii
Main characters
Chizuko: Yoshiko’s assistant
Doihara Kenji: notorious agent provocateur of the Kwantung Army, whose
many dark acts furthered Japanese advances in China; said to be one of
Yoshiko’s financial backers
Fuku: Yoshiko’s adoptive mother; wife of Kawashima Naniwa
Fukunaga Kosei: only surviving daughter of Hiro and Pujie
Ganjurjab: son of Mongol military leader Babujab; married Yoshiko in 1927
Harada Tomohiko: Naniwa’s relative, who knew Yoshiko in her youth
Hiro: see Saga Hiro
Itō Hanni: speculator, Yoshiko’s lover
Iwata Ainosuke: ultranationalist activist and Yoshiko’s onetime suitor
Jin Bihui: another name for Kawashima Yoshiko
Jin Moyu: Yoshiko’s younger sister
Kamisaka Fuyuko: author of 1984 biography of Yoshiko
Kawashima Naniwa: Yoshiko’s adoptive father
Kawashima Renko: Yoshiko’s niece; adopted by Kawashima Naniwa
Kawashima Shōko: Yoshiko’s grand-niece, Renko’s daughter
Kawashima Yoshiko: also known as Aisin Gioro Xianyu, Eastern Jewel,
Radiant Jade, Jin Bihui
Kosei: see Fukunaga Kosei
Mariko: Yoshiko’s fictional counterpart in Muramatsu Shōfū’s novel The Beauty
in Men’s Clothing
Matsuoka Yōsuke: foreign minister of Japan 1940–1941
Moriyama Eiji: ultranationalist and Yoshiko’s onetime suitor
Muramatsu Shōfū: author of best-selling novel about Yoshiko, The Beauty in
Men’s Clothing
Muramatsu Tomomi: Muramatsu Shōfū’s grandson; also wrote about Yoshiko
Naniwa: see Kawashima Naniwa
Ogata Hachirō: Yoshiko’s assistant in the latter part of her life