The Tribe (Buzoku)
Encyclopedia
The Tribe was the best known name of a loose-knit countercultural group in Japan in the 1960s and 70s.
Central figures of the group's beginnings in Shinjuku and leadership included Nanao Sakaki
, Tetsuo Nagasawa, Sansei Yamao
, Mamoru Kato, and Kenji Akiba, who shared an interest in an alternative community, free from materialism. This group initially called itself the Bum Academy or sometimes Harijan, and published three issues of a magazine, Psyche. Around the time the group obtained land in Nagano Prefecture
and on Suwanosejima
, the Tribe (Buzoku) became their best known name. Starting in December 1967, they published a newspaper, also called Buzoku. By 1970, according to Yamao, a few thousand young people felt some varying degrees of belonging to the Tribe. American poet Gary Snyder
was also an influential member of the Tribe. Bhagavan Das spent some time with the Tribe on Suwanosejima in 1971-2.
Sakaki found available land on Suwanosejima and brought several friends there, from the highland farm they had already started in Nagano, in May 1967. This was the beginning of the Banyan Ashram. In 2004, according to Sakaki, some ten families were still living at this commune.
Central figures of the group's beginnings in Shinjuku and leadership included Nanao Sakaki
Nanao Sakaki
Nanao Sakaki was a Japanese poet, author of Bellyfulls and leading personality of the Tribe. He was born to a large family in the Kagoshima Prefecture, and raised by parents who ran an indigo dye-house....
, Tetsuo Nagasawa, Sansei Yamao
Sansei Yamao
Sansei Yamao – Japanese poet.Sansei Yamo was born in Tokyo in 1938. He studied western philosophy at Waseda University, but dropped out before graduation. In the latter half of the 1960s, he and his companions Nanao Sakaki and Tetsuo Nagasawa started a commune called Buzoku , with an aim to change...
, Mamoru Kato, and Kenji Akiba, who shared an interest in an alternative community, free from materialism. This group initially called itself the Bum Academy or sometimes Harijan, and published three issues of a magazine, Psyche. Around the time the group obtained land in Nagano Prefecture
Nagano Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...
and on Suwanosejima
Suwanosejima
is a volcanic island with a population of about fifty located in the Tokara Islands, part of the Nansei Islands, Japan. It is 8 km long and is one of the most active volcanoes in Japan. It belongs to the village of Toshima in Kagoshima District, Kagoshima, Japan...
, the Tribe (Buzoku) became their best known name. Starting in December 1967, they published a newspaper, also called Buzoku. By 1970, according to Yamao, a few thousand young people felt some varying degrees of belonging to the Tribe. American poet Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
was also an influential member of the Tribe. Bhagavan Das spent some time with the Tribe on Suwanosejima in 1971-2.
Sakaki found available land on Suwanosejima and brought several friends there, from the highland farm they had already started in Nagano, in May 1967. This was the beginning of the Banyan Ashram. In 2004, according to Sakaki, some ten families were still living at this commune.