Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Louise Heal (Translator), Miyazaki Manabu (Afterword) "I was born in the winter of 1968, a yakuza's daughter..." (more)
Key Phrases: tattoo master, pachinko parlor, love hotel, Shoko Tendo, New Year

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tendo, the daughter of a yakuza (mob) boss, grew up in 1970s and '80s Japan, living through the booms and busts of life on the wrong side of the law. Her first published work, Shoko uses unpracticed but appropriately blunt prose to memoir her exceedingly arduous life; readers will appreciate her restrained but powerful details, especially during some of the harsher scenes. From age 12 onwards, Shoko's life was enveloped in drug addiction, poverty, psychological and sexual abuse, miscarriage, attempted suicide and the deaths of many close family members, set against a backdrop of Japan's ultra-secretive yakuza society. Admiration and a detached style keep Tendo from exploring any resentment she might harbor toward her criminal father, which may prove off-putting for some, but feels entirely honest given the emotional trauma Tendo suffers, and is as revealing for what it includes as for what it doesn't. Emotionally complex and thoroughly heart-rending, this book is recommended for anyone searching for a more thorough and personal understanding of Japanese society, and its darker corners, than is offered by more popular Japanese imports (movies, comic books) featuring similar subject matter.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Raised with strict ideas of honor, [Tendo] was both spoiled and scolded by the tattooed men who frequented her family home. In response she joined a gang, took drugs and became the lover of several gangsters before near-fatal beatings and drug overdoses convinced her to change her life."
-Reuters

"Tendo . . . hails from a section of Japanese society that most of her compatriots would rather did not exist. Her story . . . shines a light into a dark and little understood corner of modern Japan."
-The Guardian

"Emotionally complex and thoroughly heart-rending, this book is recommended for anyone searching for a more thorough and personal understanding of Japanese society."
-Publishers Weekly

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha International (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770030428
• ISBN-13: 978-4770030429
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #342,115 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #74 in

  Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > Gangs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bloody Moon, March 23, 2008

By	Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Whereas the samurai encapsulates the image of the pre-modern ideal of Japanese masculinity through his martial skill, stoic nature, self discipline, and code of honor, the yakuza, Japanese gangster, supposedly carries on a number of these traditions in the modern, or post-modern, world, especially the codes of honor and respect for not only his superiors but his inferiors. Wearing traditional Japanese garb, an expensive Western suit, or a loud aloha shirt, pockets full of money from sometimes questionable businesses, and carrying centuries of culture within his being, the yakuza has come to fascinate not only the Japanese populace, but the world at large through primarily his depiction in film and crime novels.

Shoko Tendo is the second daughter and third child of the yakuza oyabun, Japanese gang boss, Hiroyasu Tendo and she witnessed his great excesses and eventual downfall, but she was not involved in the gang herself and therefore is unable or not willing to expunge deeply upon the topic of her father's involvement with the yakuza, but instead writes on her life and how her father's being a yakuza would affect her life for years to come. It is for this very reason that I believe that a number of Western readers are disappointed with Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter. They are looking for a memoir that will feed into their cinematic/stereotypical ideals of what Tendo's life should be like, but instead they receive a thin tome written by a woman who suffered from continuous abuse at the hands of men who were yakuza and these men, instead of being paragons of virtue, Japanese tradition, and honor are alcoholic, cowardly dope fiends who beat on those weaker than them and cower from those who are stronger.

What Tendo gives the reader is a cathartic, honest account of a woman who is connected to the shady crime underworld and how it ostracizes her from mainstream Japanese society. Scoffed at by her teachers, neighbors, and classmates after her father is imprisoned, Tendo becomes a yanki, female delinquent and gang member, and finds herself growing addicted to a number of narcotics starting off with huffing paint thinner to injecting heroin daily all the while drifting from detention centers to abusive relationships. At times, it seems she finds peace, but eventually these fleeting moments are shattered by harsh reality.

Another criticism that I have read concerning the memoir is that it is poorly written, and that it seems like a sordid tale written by a grade-schooler. Tendo herself apologizes about the writing in the book's afterward stating that she has next to zero formal education (she nearly ceased doing school work after elementary school, having become a yanki at 12). Leaving the quality of writing behind, Tendo does have the tendency to foreshadow in a sophomoric way and her moralizing is a bit weak, but the bare bones honesty of a woman opening her heart to the reader makes the overall read overcome its limitations in craft. A fine memoir that attempts to shatter some of the stereotypes associated with the yakuza, Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter makes for a quick and enlightening read on the subject of the Japanese underworld.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Misleading title, January 4, 2008

By	Ikai Lan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like many Americans, I am fascinated by stories from those who lived their lives in the criminal underworld. I have been an avid fan of the Sopranos, and my favorite movies include those from the Godfather series and Goodfellas. These societies sell themselves as a shadow of the mainstream, another version, if you will; in actuality, they are nothing more a grotesque facsimile of society where the gross excess of consumption, violence and raw instinct create the perfect setting for telling stories about the human condition.


So it's not surprise I would be enthralled by the premise of this book. There aren't many works of literature written from a female perspective in what is generally a male dominated genre. I bought this book hoping it would allow an outsider a view into the lives and happenings of the Yakuza machine. I was severely disappointed.

Yes, the author is the daughter of a Yakuza boss. Yes, she falls in love with Yakuza men, and marries a Yakuza man. But the fact is that her ordeals are mostly unrelated to the fact that she was a Yakusa's daughter; the events could have transpired for anybody whose family had financial woes. This is not a book about the Yakuza, and isn't really a book about life in a Yakuza family - hell, you could even Mad Libs the country, since it isn't even a book about Japan. It's a book about a woman's journey from troubled teen years, to abusive relationships, and finally to self-actualization - it just so happens her father was in the Yakuza, and many of the people she ran into on the way were Yakuza.

That's why, after finishing this book, I can't help but think that the title was cooked up by some American marketeer, preying on American fascination towards organized crime. To a lesser degree, it isn't even about Japan. I feel for this woman and her pain, but reading about it was not what I had in mind when I saw the title and read the excerpt.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting!, December 8, 2007

By	D. Zarazua - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Okay, so it didn't really talk about the Yakuza mobsters so much. Remember, it's a memoir of a gangster's daughter, so she's going to talk about how hard HER life was. it's a quick read, but an interesting one. It all depends on your taste. If you like reading about other people's lives, this is a good one. She's gone through so much, and she wrote about events that probably one wouldn't be too proud of writing about for the world to know. And that's courageous of her!