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Michiko Tanaka was one of the most internationally renowned Japanese actresses ever. Her fluency in several languages greatly contributed to her fame. In addition to acting, she was an opera singer and a music professor.
Born into a family of painters in Tokyo, she received her education in Hiroshima, Japan. Her uncle served as the Japanese Ambassador to Austria, which led her to move to Vienna in 1929 to study violin, music, and voice. There, she married the wealthy Julius Meinl and made her stage debut in 1930 in "Die Geisha" (music by Sidney Jones), achieving sensational success. She also performed in the opera "Madame Butterfly" alongside Richard Tauber. Following this, she toured cities such as Tokyo and Buenos Aires. In 1935, she starred in her first film, Letzte Liebe ("Last Love"), with Erich Bassermann. The following year, Paul Abraham composed the operetta "Dschainah, das Mädchen aus dem Tanzhaus" for her, which she performed at the Theater an der Wien. During the 1930s, she relocated to Paris. While there, MGM offered her the role of O-Lan, a Chinese character in "The Good Earth," Hollywood. However, local Chinese communities opposed a Japanese actress playing the role and protested, resulting in Michiko losing the part. Instead, Austrian actress Luise Rainer won the role and received the Oscar for Best Actress. Remaining in Paris, Michiko acted in Yoshiwara (1937) and Tempête sur l'Asie ("Storm Over Asia," 1938).
In Paris, she met German star Victor de Kowa, and they fell in love and married in 1941, with Julius Meinl's blessing—he served as best man at their wedding. The couple then moved to Berlin. Besides her stage career, Michiko was an accomplished Liedersängerin, specializing in German art songs (Deutschen Kunstliedes). After World War II, she helped establish a Japanese embassy in Berlin and acted in films such as Anonyme Briefe (1949), Skandal in der Botschaft ("Scandal at the Embassy," 1950), Madame Butterfly (1954), Das kommt nicht wieder (1958) (a cinema documentary), and Girl from Hong Kong (1961). Following her husband's death, she worked as a music pedagogue in Berlin. She later retired to Munich, where she passed away in May 1988.
