Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy

Kawashima Yoshiko (born Aisin Gioro Xianyu, 1907–1948) was the daughter of a Manchu prince. After the fall of the Manchu dynasty, she was raised by a Japanese friend of her father to restore the Manchus to their former glory. Her dedication to this cause, including supporting the puppet state established by the Japanese in 1932, ultimately got her executed for treason after Japan's defeat. The truth of Yoshiko's life is still a source of contention between China and Japan. This biography presents the richest and most accurate portrait to date of the controversial princess spy.

A sensational, myth-busting biography of a woman who thrived and fell upon the turmoil of her era.

Phyllis Birnbaum is a novelist, biographer, journalist, and translator. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, Times Literary Supplement, and other publications. Her books include Modern Girls, Shining Stars, the Skies of Tokyo: Five Japanese Women and a biography, Glory in a Line: A Life of Foujita—the Artist Caught Between East and West. She recently edited an English translation of Clouds Above the Hill: A Historical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War. She lives outside of Boston.

A fascinating tale of a woman who played a prominent role in the muddled conflicts in East Asia before and during the Pacific War.... The writing here is clear and the research is superb.

Named one of the 15 best books of the year by the Women in the World Blog at the New York Times

Even-handed and fair.

Japanese expert Birnbaum brings both [Yoshiko's] life and myth to an English-speaking or Western audience. She skilfully weaves her way through the complex political situation in pre-war China and gives an evocative account of the chaos of multinational Shanghai. Sensibly, the author keeps her controversial subject at arms length, steers clear of concurring with sensationalist claims about her exploits, and expresses a balanced take on most aspects of Yoshiko's life.

[Yoshiko] emerges as a woman supremely in command of her own fiction, even to the last.

Phyllis Birnbaum's book attempts to cut through the myths surrounding Kawashima, and is an excellent overview of her life.

Birnbaum does her utmost to unravel the threads that make up Yoshiko's legacy... in this thoughtful biography of a complicated woman.

Birnbaum presents a colorful portrait of the controversial figure as she participated in conflicts that transformed East Asia.

Mark C. Elliott, Harvard University:
Richly illustrated with rare photos, and enlivened by numerous interviews, Phyllis Birnbaum's book is a balanced, well-written biography of one of the most notorious figures to emerge in the early twentieth-century contest for empire in northeast Asia. Anyone interested in the personal dimension of Sino-Japanese relations during the period of their most problematic intensity will find much profit in reading these stories of the life of Kawashima Yoshiko, many told through the memories of the men and women who loved her and hated her, often at the same time.

Janine Beichman, Daito Bunka University, Tokyo:
Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy is an even-handed biographical study of a fascinating woman who may have been a secret agent during the Pacific War. Phyllis Birnbaum covers Kawashima Yoshiko's background as a Manchu princess and her further adventures after being adopted in Japan in detail, using virtually every primary source available, as well as novels based on her life.