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| Author: Shoko Tendo
Creators: Miyazaki Manabu, Louise Heal
Publisher: Kodansha International
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $12.94
You Save: $10.01 (44%)
New (31) Used (14) from $4.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 44138
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 4770030428
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1092
EAN: 9784770030429
ASIN: 4770030428
Publication Date: July 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081012212256T
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| Customer Reviews:
 Bloody Moon March 23, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
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.
 Giving this a C+ March 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Perhaps it was a bad translation. Perhaps it was written in a rush. Or perhaps the author just isn't particularly talented. The last seems to be the case with Shoko Tendo's memoir about life as the daughter of a Japanese mobster. Many of the chapters ran like separate vignettes without much dramatic tension. There was little insight into the actual lives of the yakuza, and the reader is left trying to add pieces together. What keeps the pace is Tendo's interesting life, and the trials she must overcome to better herself. When she receives the full-body tattoo, it seems anti-climactic and, dare I say it, unimportant. The tone of the entire piece just doesn't have enough resonance to carry itself. For example, the trite (and very bizarre shift in the aforementioned tone) last line is this: "Thank you Mom and Dad." Like something out of high school essay, I felt deceived with such a simplistic ending. Some passages contained rich imagery, but they didn't last very long. Overall, with the subject and some of the narrative, the book had promise. But it seems carrying out the task proved to be too much of a task.
Disappointed January 29, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The reviews for this seemed positive enough to feed my interest in anything and everything Japanese. I was very disapointed! The book is written (I'm not sure if this is a translation issue) like something a middle schooler would write, if not for the foul language and explicit situations. Really, it does not do too great of a job describing Japanese culture, instead focusing mainly on the abuse of women. Further, the tone of the book is dull and uninviting. A real let down!
Gangsters are gangsters January 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Many American youth are fascinated with Japanese anime, films, and culture. Typical high school students in America, in my experience, tend to understand Japanese crime families to be "legal" in Japan. Accepted. Yakuza Moon relates a vivid picture of brutality and drug abuse in terms that are quite clear. The quaint myth that gangsterism in Japan is accepted is exploded. Shoko Tendo's autobiography makes it quite clear that to the Japanese mainstream, Yakuza crime families are held in low repect. Yakuza Moon's tattoos are a fascinating part of the crime subculture. With American teens' fascination with tattoos, it offers a different and critical attitude which may give pause for thought to the phenonema in America. The style and complexity of the novel places it in the category of adololescent literature. The diction can be a bit abrasive, but probably realistic.
 poor writing January 7, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I found the writing on this memoir quite poor, no better than High School level. Ending chapters or episodes with ..."and so I learned" ... such and such is so ninth gradish. One glimpses no details of the business dealings of the jakuza, their m.o., etc. I know we've been spoiled by the richness of "The Sopranos", but even with much lower expectations, I ended up with a blank in place of a rudimentary understanding of the Japanese mafia. Nor did I find any dramatic tension through the chapters. The narrative is like a slow moving lovomotive traversing flat terrain, passing through uninteresting stations and ending in the middle of nowhere. I rather read a newspaper on such a trip.
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