Yakuza Moon is the shocking, yet intensely moving memoir of 37-year-old Shoko Tendo, who grew up the daughter of a yakuza boss. Tendo lived her life in luxury until the age of six, when her father was sent to prison and her family fell into terrible debt. Bullied by classmates and terrorized at home by a father who became a drunken, violent monster after his release from prison, Tendo rebelled. A regular visitor to nightclubs at the age of 12, she soon became a drug addict and a member of a girl gang. At 15 she was sentenced to eight months in a juvenile detention center. Adulthood brought big bucks and glamour when Tendo started working as a bar hostess during Japan's booming bubble economy of the nineteen-eighties. But among her many rich and loyal patrons there were also abusive clients, one of whom beat her so badly that her face was left permanently scarred. When her mother died, Tendo plunged into such a deep depression that she tried to commit suicide twice. Tendo takes us through the bad times with warmth and candor, and gives a moving and inspiring account of how she overcame a lifetime of discrimination and hardship. Getting tattooed, from the base of her neck to the tips of her toes, with a design centered on a geisha with a dagger in her mouth, was an act that empowered her to start making changes in her life. She quit her job as a hostess. On her last day at the bar she looked up at the full moon, a sight she never forgot. The moon became a symbol of her struggle to become whole, and the title of the book she wrote as an epitaph for herself and her family.

母亲对于我来说意义非凡。我曾经是一个容易生病的小孩，所以她常常为我担心，也从来没有远离过我。但这也造成了我对她从我的世界消失这个想法的深深恐惧。 一次我卧病在床，睁开眼睛的时候没有看到母亲，我大声喊她，但没有回应。我光着脚冲出家门，到大街上寻找她的踪影，最终在她从商店回家的路上碰到了。“你在干什么？你应该躺在床上的！” 她脸上充满了疑惑。 我无法解释为什么会如此恐惧，当我生病时母亲会把饭送到床边: 点缀着红彤彤梅子的麦片粥，还有闪着光的半月型桃子。仍记得那麦片粥的甜美和咸梅子的特殊香味， 在当时，我不曾知道这段和母亲度过的时光有多么短暂。 我讨厌每天晚上看到父亲醉醺醺的回到家， 同时，我也对那些搀扶他回来的酒店女老板们感到厌恶，她们身上浓烈的香水味道，和那过份甜腻的声音，都让我感到恶心。 她们会在我和母亲面前亲昵的贴着父亲，即使后来我意识到她们根本不在乎父亲，只在乎他的钱， 我还是会为母亲感到难过。她要向那些女人鞠躬，感谢她们送父亲回来。 我明白父亲为了支撑全家的生计而努力工作，但每天晚上当我蜷缩在床上，我会不禁去想他在醉醺醺的回到家后又把所有东西弄得一团糟。 我看着一片漆黑的天花板，一会儿便浮现出一张可怕的脸，我便浑身颤抖的缩到被子里。母亲睡在我的旁边，当她上床时，我会偷偷查看她脸上的表情。只有在那个 时候我才能全身放松的合上双眼。 那些日子里我从来没有睡过一夜的安稳觉，也就不可能在学校里精力集中的听课。说实话，我从一开始就没有对学校产生什么兴趣，所以不管打不打瞌睡，从不期望 自己能真正学到什么。