Yoshiko Kawashima Early life . Aisin Gioro Xianyu was born in Beijing as the 14th daughter to Shanqi , the 10th son of Prince Su ( 肅親王 ) of the Manchu imperial family and a concubine . She was given for adoption at the age of eight to her father ' s friend Naniwa Kawashima , a Japanese espionage agent and mercenary adventurer after the Xinhai Revolution , but she was raised and educated in her grandfather ' s home in the city of Matsumoto , in Japan . Her step - father changed her original name " Aisin Gioro Xianyu " to ( Kawashima ) Yoshiko . She did not find an appropriate family either . As a teenage girl , she was raped by Kawashima ' s father , and later had an affair with Kawashima himself . Meanwhile her biological father Shanqi Su died in 1921 . His concubine , who had no official identity , committed the traditional suicide . Yoshiko was sent to school in Tokyo for an education that included judo and fencing and then lived a bohemian lifestyle for some years in Tokyo with a series of rich lovers , both men and women . Espionage career . In 1927 , Kawashima married Ganjuurjab , the son of Inner Mongolian Army General Jengjuurjab , leader of the Mongolian - Manchurian Independence Movement based in Ryojun . The marriage ended in divorce after only two years , and Kawashima moved to the foreign concession in Shanghai . While in Shanghai , she met Japanese military attaché and intelligence officer Ryukichi Tanaka , who utilized her contacts with the Manchu and Mongol nobility to expand his network . She was living together with Tanaka in Shanghai at the time of the Shanghai Incident of 1932 . After Tanaka was recalled to Japan , Kawashima continued to serve as a spy for Major - General Kenji Doihara . She undertook undercover mission in Manchuria , often in disguise , and was considered " strikingly attractive , with a dominating personality , almost a film - drama figure , half tom - boy and half heroine , and with this passion for dressing up as a male . Possibly she did this to impress the men , or so that she could more easily fit into the tightly - knit guerrilla groups without attracting too much attention " . Kawashima was well - acquainted with former Qing Emperor Pu Yi who regarded her as a member of Royal Family and made her welcome in his household during his stay in Tianjin . It was through this close liaison that Kawashima was able to persuade Pu Yi to return to the Manchu homeland as head of the newly Japanese - created state of Manchukuo . After the installation of Pu Yi as Emperor of Manchukuo , Kawashima continued to play various roles and , for a time , was mistress of Major General Hayao Tada , who was chief military advisor for Pu Yi . She formed an independent counter insurgency cavalry force in 1932 made up of 3 , 000 - 5 , 000 former bandits to hunt down anti - Japanese guerilla bands during the Pacification of Manchukuo , and was hailed in the Japanese newspapers as the Joan of Arc of Manchukuo . In 1933 , she offered the unit to the Japanese Kwantung Army for Operation Nekka , but it was refused . The unit continued to exist under her command until sometime in the late 1930s . Kawashima became a well - known and popular figure in Manchukuo society , making appearances on radio broadcasts , and even issuing a record of her songs . Numerous fictional and semi - fictional stories of her exploits were published in newspapers and also in the pulp fiction press . However , her very popularity created issues with the Kwantung Army , as her utility as an intelligence asset was long gone , and her value as a propaganda symbol was compromised by her increasingly critical tone against the Japanese military ' s exploitative policies in Manchukuo as a base of operations against China in the Second Sino - Japanese War , and she gradually faded from public sight . After the end of the war , on 11 November 1945 , a news agency reported that " a long sought - for beauty in male costume was arrested in Peking by the Chinese counter - intelligence officers . " In 1948 , Kawashima was tried as a traitor ( Hanjian ) by the Nationalist Government under her Chinese name ( Jin Bihui ) . She was executed by a shot into the back of her head . In popular culture . Kawashima has been depicted in numerous movies from 1932 until the present day by many actresses . She was featured in the movie " The Last Emperor " , where she appeared as " Eastern Jewel " , played by Maggie Han . A film titled " Sen ' un Ajia no Joō " about her was released in Japan in 1957 . Anita Mui played Kawashima Yoshiko in a 1990 Hong Kong - produced film , " The Last Princess of Manchuria " . She is a prominent character in the 2007 drama " Ri Kouran " , which tells the story of the life of Yoshiko Yamaguchi , also known as Li Xianglan ( 李香蘭 ) . She was portrayed by Japanese idol Rei Kikukawa . More scholarly and peer - reviewed research exists on Kawashima Yoshiko in English in Dan Shao ' s " Princess , Traitor , Soldier , Spy : Aisin Gioro Xianyu and the Dilemma of Manchu Identity " and in " Crossed Histories : Manchuria in the Age of Empire " , edited by Mariko Asano Tamanoi . " The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel " , by Maureen Lindley , is a 2008 novel about the life of Yoshiko Kawashima . Kawashima was featured as a character in Ian Buruma ' s novel " The China Lover " , released in 2008 . Meisa Kuroki portrays Kawashima in the 2008 Japanese drama " Dansō no Reijin : Kawashima Yoshiko no Shōgai " . An eight - year - old Kawashima Yoshiko makes a cameo appearance in the PlayStation 2 game " " .