For those of you interested in learning more about Japan than you can by reading tourist guides comes this book. I think it’s a real eye-opener for people who see Japan as the land of electronics, anime and women wearing kimono.

Theft News has this report:

“Yakuza Moon” is a shocking story of the side of Japan most Japanese would prefer the rest of the world never knew about.

But thanks to Kodansha International, yakuza gang boss’s daughter Shoko Tendo’s best-selling autobiography is now out in English and accessible to a wider audience.

“Yakuza Moon” tracks 38-year-old Osaka-born Tendo’s life from her early years where her status as a yakuza gang boss’s daughter started her roller-coaster ride through luxury, bullying, discrimination, domestic violence and reform school. It moves on to her time as a teen biker gang moll sucking on first paint thinner and then shooting up speed, a substance that later become an addiction fostered by one of the many brutal thugs she shares her life with in early adulthood.

More vicious beatings, exploitation by infidel men, rape, miscarriage and heartbreak follow. Reconciliation with her parents is tempered by grief at their deaths. Mental illness and a suicide attempt add to the already bleak picture. But as “Yakuza Moon” is written with such candor and huge investment of emotion, it’s impossible to desert Tendo and put her book down.

To read the full review CLICK HERE.

To purchase the book – click the book below.

From the Daily Yomiuri Online:

A Japanese-English dictionary of keywords used in domestic and
international news reporting, compiled by The Daily Yomiuri and
published by Tokyodo Publishing Co., has been put on sale.

“Saishin Nyusu Eigo Jiten” (A Dictionary of Keywords in News) lists
about 7,000 terms that frequently appear in newspaper, television and
other media reports, including newly coined and technical terms.
Hard-to-translate expressions peculiar to the Japanese language also
are included.

For easy reference, the 496-page dictionary is divided into seven
major categories–politics, business, city news/culture, international
news, military affairs/security, science/technology/environment and
sports.

The up-to-the-minute dictionary incorporates a large number of
footnotes, commentaries, charts and illustrations to give users a
better understanding of and in-depth information about a variety of
topics. It also lists laws, treaties, government offices and major
corporations.

We hope “Saishin Nyusu Eigo Jiten,” the fruit of 50 years of
extensive news reporting by The Daily Yomiuri, will serve as an
indispensable reference not only to English-language learners, but also
translators, interpreters, journalists and other professionals.

“Saishin Nyusu Eigo Jiten,” priced at 2,730 yen, tax included, is
on sale at bookstores nationwide. You may also order a copy of the
dictionary through Tokyodo’s Web site at:

http://www.tokyodoshuppan.com/