, also known as simply , was a Japanese

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

group, popular in Japan in the later half of the 1960s.

Career

The band was formed in 1965 by the five university students

Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed , was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh". History As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Katō launched his recording career in the mid-1960s. "Kaettekita Yopparai (I O ...

, Osamu Kitayama, Yoshio Hiranuma, Mikio Imura and Masaki Ashida, but Ashida and Imura left the band at an early stage. The three-man band were active in the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

underground scene for some time, but in 1967 the band decided to split up, and to commemorate the split up they released the self-produced

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''Harenchi'' in only 300 copies. The same year, the album was picked up by

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

, where the songs "Imujingawa" and "Kaette Kita Yopparai" were played frequently. "Kaette Kita Yopparai" ("Drunkard Returns") sold over one and a quarter million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. The band starred in a 1968 movie with the same title as the song, ''

Three Resurrected Drunkards is a Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. It was based on the hit song "Kaette kita yopparai" by The Folk Crusaders, a folk and pop music group that also appeared in the film. It was released in March 1968. Plot Three young men go to the b ...

'', directed by

Nagisa Oshima NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...

. The members continued their musical careers in different bands but had two reunions as The Folk Crusaders and released some more albums. The band's song "Imujingawa", a song about the

Imjin River The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The river i ...

and the splitting of Korea, played a role in the 2004

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, ''

Pacchigi! is a 2005 Japanese film directed by Kazuyuki Izutsu. Plot Romeo, A.K.A. Kosuke Matsuyama ( Shun Shioya), is a second-year high school student. A nice, normal, nonviolent type, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Ko ...

''.

Members

* (1965–1967, 1967–1968, 2002, 2013): Also known as a psychoanalyst, who served as a professor of psychoanalysis and medicine at

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. It was the 4th Imperial University in Japan, ranked as 4th in 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, one of the top 10 Design ...

, a vice president of

Hakuoh University is a private university in city of Oyama in Tochigi, Japan. The name Hakuoh, means 'white seagull', and the motto ''Plus ultra'', or 'Further beyond'. History Hakuoh University was founded by lifelong educator Dr. Kazuyoshi Kamioka in 1986 a ...

, and the chairman of the Japan Psychoanalytical Association. He currently serves as a professor emeritus at Kyushu University. * (1965–1967, 1967–1968, 2002, died 2009) * (1965–1967) * (1965) * (1965, 1966–1967) * (1967–1968, died 2017) * (2002, 2013)

References

Japanese pop music groups Folk music groups Musical groups from Kyoto Prefecture Musical groups established in 1965 Musical groups disestablished in 1968 1965 establishments in Japan 1968 disestablishments in Japan {{Japan-musician-stub