The diary of Shoko Tendo (Yakuz Moon)

There’s nothing original in this book, but there are a lot of good things on it, of course. Alike the famous diaries of former prostitutes that turned into a fever in Brazil and another countries, Yakusa moon has a value that overcomes the simple narration of a personal story of any “dirty girls”. Shoko Tendo chose a consecrated formula that turned Christiane F. famous in the beginning of the 80s. But on the contrary of the German girl – now Mrs.Felscherinow,  Mss. Tendo describes her life since she was a child as a daughter of a Yakuza boss. In this case Tendo is a little bit better than the others. She was able to describe a cultural element of her country that sometimes we don't find in other similar works. Despite the name, “Yakusa moon” is not a book about Yakusa itself, but describes the familiar elements of this organization seen by a young lady. But there are some other good things in this book that deserves note. For examples, the tradition that is present in the Japanese contemporary culture. How the Japanese people mind about the local of their dead. How Japan is today an ordinary capitalist country, and on the other hand a great keeper of ancient traditions. The tattoo she shows on the cover of the book is not too yakuza business as the author herself explain, but it illustrates another cultural element that makes Shoko Tendo a great representation of the exotic beauty from Japan.