is a
Sino-Japanese term meaning
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
, clan, or family. As a suffix it has been used extensively within Japan to define subcultural phenomena, though many zoku do not acquire the suffix (e.g.
cosplay
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
).
A ''zoku'' may be labeled with a Japanese stem (e.g. ''kaminari zoku'') or a foreign language (
gairaigo
is Japanese for "loan word", and indicates a transcription into Japanese. In particular, the word usually refers to a Japanese word of foreign origin that was not borrowed in ancient times from Old or Middle Chinese (especially Literary Chinese) ...
) stem (e.g. ''saike zoku'', where ''saike'' comes from "psychedelic").
As with the usual practice elsewhere,
subcultures
A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
have almost certainly been labeled by an outsider to the group, often an influential person in the
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
.
Historic groups labeled as zoku
1950s/60s
Subcultures that emerged in the early post-war decades include the "motorcycle-riding Thunder Tribe (''kaminarizoku''), the amplified-music-loving Electric Tribe (''erekizoku''), and the Psychedelic Tribe (''saikezoku'')."
Although ''zoku'' was applied to others in society, like
senior citizens
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human biological life cycle, life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage ...
,
salarymen
In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works.
Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...
, and political activists (e.g.
Uyoku dantai
refers to Japanese ultranationalist far-right activists, provocateurs, and internet trolls (as ''netto-uyoku'') often organized in groups. In 1996 and 2013, the National Police Agency estimated that there were over 1,000 right-wing groups in ...
), it was mostly used to label youth subcultures.
Shintaro Ishihara
was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Japan Restoration Party, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. An ultranat ...
's 1950s novel ''
Season of the Sun
is a Japanese novel written in 1955 by Shintaro Ishihara, who later became a politician and was governor of Tokyo for 13 years from 1999 to 2012. It is the source of the name of the rebellious taiyōzoku () youth culture which emerged after W ...
'' gave rise to a reckless and carefree expression of youth which became stylised in subsequent films as ''taiyo zoku'' (sun tribe). This subculture had some parallels with the
rocker and
greaser subcultures being promoted by
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
films such as ''
Rebel without a Cause
''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format and directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social co ...
''. Traditional Japanese considered the post-war ''taiyo zoku'' violent and promiscuous. Some Japanese youths admired American music, and Japanese
Bill Haley
William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...
clones were known as ''rokabiri zoku'' (the
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...
tribe).
At the height of the
hippy
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
movement and the
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
age in the 1960s, the ''futen zoku'' or vagabond tribe emerged in the
Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
area of Japan. Japanese media depicted them as dangerous because of their
substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
and their public presence. More recreational drug users who patronized clubs and coffee shops were known as ''danmo zoku''.
1970s/80s
A 1970s Japanese
punk movement
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...
was known as ''karasu zoku'' (crow tribe) because they wore black clothing and accessories. Young women readers of the 1970s magazines "an an" and "non no" were known as the ''an-non zoku''.
In the 1980s, fashion became mixed with music and dance in the form of the ''
takenoko-zoku Takenoko-zoku (竹の子族, lit. "bamboo shoot tribe") describes a type of dance group active from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s in Tokyo, especially in Harajuku. The teenagers, mainly girls but often with one boy leading, were colorfully dressed ...
'' or (bamboo-shoot tribe). This subculture was named after a boutique in
Harajuku
is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refer ...
. Other parts of Tokyo such as
Roppongi
is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...
and
Ginza
Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
have been centers of
Japanese popular culture
Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be ...
, and many zoku have been named after sites in these localities.
Another very significant group of the 1980s was the ''kurisutaru zoku'' (crystal tribe), which were branded a social group after the success of the novel ''
Nantonaku, Kurisutaru'' (''Somehow, Crystal''). This label applied to youth who were swept up in the freedoms of the economic boom of the 1980s and became
materialistic and conscious of their image, much like
yuppie
Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...
s. They have been contrasted with the rougher groups that had existed since the 1950s.
The ''Hanako zoku'' of the late 1980s was associated with a popular magazine for young women called ''
Hanako''.
Glossary
Street and racing tribes
*
Bōsō zoku: motorcycle gang
* Dorifuto zoku:
Drifting tribe
* Kaminari zoku: (雷族 "Thunder Tribe") early name for ''Bōsō zoku''
* Rolling zoku: Off-road variety of ''Bōsō zoku''
* Roulette zoku (also ''circuit zoku''):
Circular-highway racing tribe
* Vanning zoku: Van-driving tribe (van owning youths who install massive sound systems)
* Zeroyon zoku: 0-4 tribe (racers who use 400m straight-track roads)
Others
* Bara zoku: Rose tribe (gay subculture in Japan)
* Danchi zoku: Unit tribe (white collar apartment dwellers)
* Dobunezumi zoku: Sewer rat tribe (company employees in dull clothing)
*
Figure moe zoku
is a Japanese term which refers to "otaku who collect figurines". Originally, the term was not related to ''lolicon'' (attraction to young or prepubescent girls), but instead to agalmatophilia (attraction to statues, dolls, mannequins, etc.), si ...
:
Otaku
is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...
who collect figurines
* Ereki zoku: Electric Guitar Tribe
* Hodo-Hodo zoku: Employees who avoid promotion to minimize stress and maximize free time
* Hotaru zoku: Firefly tribe (smokers on their smoking break)
* Madogiwa zoku: Window-seat tribe (older, redundant employees who are retained by companies)
* Nure ochiba zoku: Wet leaf tribe (clingy retired salarymen) from
Economic Bubbles and the Salaryman's Vomit, by Nicholas Klar
/ref>
* Oyayubi zoku: thumb tribe (heavy users of cell phones for texting)
* Yuri Yuri may refer to:
People and fictional characters
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
*Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...
zoku: Lily tribe (the lesbian equivalent of ''bara zoku'')
* Zoku-giin: Policy tribes (many Japanese political factions are also suffixed with zoku)
References
* Seidensticker, Edward. ''Tokyo Rising: The City Since the Great Earthquake''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1990.
* Karl Taro Greenfeld. ''Speed Tribes''. HarperCollins. .
External links
Japanese page about the bosozoku subculture
(In Japanese)
Shout sister shout
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070416033340/http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/11/japanese_youth_are_l.html Article referring to ''dearuki zoku''
{{Japanese subcultures
Japanese subcultures
Japanese words and phrases