Short description
Tiny, frail and beautiful, it is hard to believe the hardships endured by 37-year-old Shoko Tendo. But the dragon tattoo that peeks from her sleeve is a hint that she has spent most of her life living on the fringes of mainstream Japanese society, as a me member of a yakuza family.
Long description
Tiny, frail and beautiful, it is hard to believe the hardships endured by 37-year-old Shoko Tendo. But the dragon tattoo that peeks from her sleeve is a hint that she has spent most of her life living on the fringes of mainstream Japanese society, as a me member of a yakuza family. One of four children born to a wealthy and powerful yakuza boss, Tendo lived the early years of her life in luxury. When she was six, her father was sent to prison and the family fell into terrible debt. Bullied by her classmates because of her father's activities, and terrorized at home by her father who became a drunken, violent monster after his release from prison, Tendo rebelled.From the age of 12 she started going to nightclubs with her elder sister, becoming a drug addict and a member of a girl gang. At the age of 15 she spent eight months in a juvenile detention centre after getting into a fight with another gang. In the nineteen-eighties, during Japan's bubble economy, Tendo started working as a bar hostess, attracting many rich and loyal customers, and earning money to help her family out of debt. But there were also abusive clients, one of whom beat her so badly that her face was left permanently scarred. Her mother died, plunging Tendo into a depression so deep that she twice tried to commit suicide.Somehow, Tendo overcame these tough times. A turning point was getting tattooed, from the base of her neck to the tips of her toes, with a design centered on a geisha with a dagger in her mouth, an act that empowered her to start making changes in her life. She started going to beauty school to learn how to hide the scars on her face and she quit her job as a hostess. On her last day as a hostess she looked up at the full moon. She never forgot the sight, and it became a symbol of her struggle to become whole, and the title of the book she wrote as an epitaph for herself and her family.Now in paperback, the powerful and moving story of one woman's struggle against discrimination and hardship to create a better life for herself. A fascinating insight into the closed world of Japan's yakuza society. This book features 16 pages of never-before-seen photos of Tendo's youth, family and tattoos, as well as a new foreword by the author, describing her life since the book was first published four years ago.
Review
Shines a light into a dark and little understood corner of modern Japan. - The Guardian Offers a rare woman's view of Japan's criminal underbelly. - The Independent