Yoko Tani (è°·æ´‹å , Tani YÅ ko, 2 August 1928, in Paris â€" 19 April
1999, in Paris) was a French-born Japanese actress and nightclub
entertainer.Tani's birth name was Itani YÅ ko (猪谷洋å ). She has
occasionally been described as 'Eurasian', 'half French', 'half
Japanese' and even, in one source, 'Italian Japanese', all of which
are incorrect.French records (1958) show that her father and
motherâ€"both Japaneseâ€"were attached to the Japanese embassy in
Paris, with Tani herself conceived en route during a shipboard passage
from Japan to Europe in 1927 and subsequently born in Paris the
following year, hence given the name YÅ ko (æ´‹å ), one reading of
which can mean "ocean-child."According to Japanese sources, the family
returned to Japan in 1930, when Yoko would still have been a toddler,
and she did not return to France until 1950 when her schooling was
completed. Given that there were severe restrictions on Japanese
travelling outside Japan directly after World War II, this would have
been an unusual event; however, it is known that Itani had attended an
elite Catholic girls' school in Tokyo (unnamed, but probably Seishin
Joshi Gakuen), and through it secured a Catholic scholarship to study
aesthetics at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) under Étienne
Souriau.
1999, in Paris) was a French-born Japanese actress and nightclub
entertainer.Tani's birth name was Itani YÅ ko (猪谷洋å ). She has
occasionally been described as 'Eurasian', 'half French', 'half
Japanese' and even, in one source, 'Italian Japanese', all of which
are incorrect.French records (1958) show that her father and
motherâ€"both Japaneseâ€"were attached to the Japanese embassy in
Paris, with Tani herself conceived en route during a shipboard passage
from Japan to Europe in 1927 and subsequently born in Paris the
following year, hence given the name YÅ ko (æ´‹å ), one reading of
which can mean "ocean-child."According to Japanese sources, the family
returned to Japan in 1930, when Yoko would still have been a toddler,
and she did not return to France until 1950 when her schooling was
completed. Given that there were severe restrictions on Japanese
travelling outside Japan directly after World War II, this would have
been an unusual event; however, it is known that Itani had attended an
elite Catholic girls' school in Tokyo (unnamed, but probably Seishin
Joshi Gakuen), and through it secured a Catholic scholarship to study
aesthetics at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) under Étienne
Souriau.
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