Original language:
Japanese Translated from: English
Authors: Tendo, Shoko
Translated by: Jėrinaitė, Jurgita
Full translated source bibliographical description:
Versta iš: Shoko Tendo, Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter, Kodansha International Ltd, 2007
ISBN: 978-9955-700-57-9
Published in: Kaunas
Published on: 2008
Publisher: Obuolys
Intriguing and engaging from the first pages, an autobiographical book is telling a story about Yakuza boss daughter’s life. It is the author’s debut work, which is quite straightforward story about the plight and unimaginative life of a teenage girl. Tattooed from head to toe, just twenty years old girl speaks about her life that was like a personal hell. At the age of twelve, book author Shoko got acquainted with poverty, sexual violence and drug slavery. She suffered horrendous psychological challenges, tried to commit suicide and survived the loss of people that were close to her.
Experienced pain, bruises and tears – it’s just one of the smaller scars, which are now only leftovers in girls life. The book does not attempt to beautify the details, there are no secrets kept about the true modern Japanese mafias life corners, which writer herself had to see and experience by her own.
Although in places the book can make us think “Can it seriously be a reality?” the truth of all this autobiography drama is like an openness full confession, which aims to show the readers of Japans darker colors.
The book itself is not complicated, compared with other Japanese writers’ works, there are no fancy words and philosophical reflections. “Yakuza moon” – is easy to read, its sentences are clear and simple. This is probably just another plus, which leads all the way to read the book more than once.