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It is only when Shoko Tendo (left) 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.
It is an appropriately defiant image for Tendo and the most obvious sign that, as the daughter of a yakuza (mafia) boss, she hails from a section of Japanese society that most of her compatriots would rather did not exist.
Her story, Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter, which was published in the UK last month, became a surprise bestseller in Japan in 2004, shining a light into a dark and little understood corner of modern Japan. With the release of the English version, her story of a happy early childhood that quickly descended into delinquency, addiction and a string of abusive relationships is set to reach a much wider audience.
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