Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo - Review December 5th, 2007
To be totally honest, I should never really have stumbled across this book - I was bored in the university library, so I headed over to the Japanese section and started flicking through books. None of them really caught my eye, although I was only reading about two sentences of each. When I picked up Yakuza Moon, however, I was greeted with a harrowing passage about sexual assault, told from the perspective of the victim. Real facts mixed with real emotions. I was literally taken aback, and I took the book to read more to see if the author could justify writing such horrors rather than for the story.
This happened at around 11 this morning. It’s now 2am, and I’ve read the book cover to cover over the last few hours. I know the phrase “page turner” is banded around all over the place, but the only time I stopped reading this book was to walk home in the rain so I could lie on my bed, which is marginally more comfortable than the wooden benches of the library.
The book follows, in incredible detail, author Shoko Tendo’s astonishing childhood, which involves but is not limited to getting into organized fights with gang members, inhaling dizzying amounts of paint thinner, and dancing to Boogie Wonderland. Awesome stuff. The majority of the content however takes a much darker tone, and at points it’s hard to remember that this is an autobiography and not some horror story - Tendo’s suffering at the hand of her sadistic lover Ito turns him into more of a villain than Heathcliffe ever was.
Furthermore, having finished the book, I was overjoyed to discover by doing some research, that I’m not the only one to find this opus. Quite a few blogs and reviews have appeared, all heralding Tendo as a magnificent writer and survivor of some of the worst elements of contemporary Japan. I’ve put a few links at the bottom of this post, so do take a look.
One thing that is talked about in the book at length, and appears in the cover, is Tendo’s amazing tattoos. I had a bit of a dig around, and have posted the best photos I could find of her. Safe to say it must have hurt like hell, but it’s clearly worth it. Those who believe tattoos are nothing but ugly may want to reconsider.
I would encourage anyone to read this book but with a sincere warning - this is not a children’s book at all. Inside are tales of rape, sexual assault, drug abuse, incarceration, violence and frequent bad language. If you can stand all that, it’s an incredibly effective way of making the reader do what Tendo had to learn years ago - to shut up and listen. Here’s hoping her next attempt is just as brutally effective as Yakuza Moon. Anybody who wanted to find out more about the Yakuza couldn’t do better than give Yakuza Moon a spin - just don’t expect bunnies and flowers.
Links
Crafty Ginger : Yakuza Moon - Review