Life of a Yakuza's Daughter

The Guardian Online has posted a gorgeous article on Shoko Tendo, best-selling author of Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter, which chronicles her life of delinquency, drug addiction, crime, rape and ultimate redemption:

It is only when Shoko Tendo removes her tracksuit top that you appreciate why, even on a hot day, she prefers to remain covered up in public. Outwardly she is much like any thirty-something you would be likely to encounter on a Tokyo street. Her hair is of the dark-brown hue favoured by many Japanese women her age, her greeting is accompanied by a well-executed bow, and her voice seems to be pitched a little on the high side, a common affectation in the company of strangers.

But her protective layer comes off to reveal stick-thin arms covered, from the wrists up, with a tattoo that winds its way to her chest and across her back, culminating, on her left shoulder, in the face of a Muromachi-era courtesan with breast exposed and a knife clenched between her teeth.

The article doesn't really spill the details of how or why, but apparently, Tendo's Yakuza Tattoo was the event that finally got her life on track. I've been looking to learn more about the yakuza, so this looks like it may very well be a must read.

Blood ties: Yakuza daughter lifts lid on hidden hell of gangsters' families [Guardian]