Yakuza Moon
Shoko Tendo looks like any other stylish young
Japanese woman — until she removes her shirt to reveal the vivid tattoos
covering her back and most of her body.
With her dyed-brown long hair and tight designer
jeans, Shoko Tendo looks like any other stylish young Japanese woman —
until she removes her shirt to reveal the vivid tattoos covering her back and
most of her body.
The elaborate dragons, phoenixes and a medieval courtesan with one breast bared and a knife between her teeth are a symbol of Tendo’s childhood as the daughter of a “yakuza” gangster and her youth as a drug-using gang member.
The elaborate dragons, phoenixes and a medieval courtesan with one breast bared and a knife between her teeth are a symbol of Tendo’s childhood as the daughter of a “yakuza” gangster and her youth as a drug-using gang member.
The author of “Yakuza Moon,” a best-selling memoir just
out in English, the 39-year-old Tendo says that police efforts to eradicate the
gangsters have merely made them harder to
track.
Descended from medieval gamblers and outlaws, yakuza were long portrayed as latter-day samurai, bound by traditions of honor and duty and living extravagant lives.
The largest part of yakuza income now comes from pursuits involving stocks, property and finance.
I wonder how many tattoo parlors there are on Wall Street?
Descended from medieval gamblers and outlaws, yakuza were long portrayed as latter-day samurai, bound by traditions of honor and duty and living extravagant lives.
The largest part of yakuza income now comes from pursuits involving stocks, property and finance.
I wonder how many tattoo parlors there are on Wall Street?
Posted: Sat - September 8, 2007 at 06:56 AM