Yasuko Kasaki - Harajuku Takenoko-zoku - 1981

Harajuku Takenoko-zoku

Yasuko Kasaki
Daisanshokan/1981/Japanese/260*210*13

Photographer Yasuko Kasaki's photo collection “Harajuku Bamboo Shoot Tribe.” After graduating from university and working as a magazine editor, Yasuko Kasaki published numerous translations and essays throughout the 80s and 90s. She currently resides in New York, continuing her work as a spiritual counselor and healer. This book, “Harajuku Bamboo Shoot Tribe,” is the elusive volume she astonishingly published before graduating university. In 1980, she first encountered the Bamboo Shoot Tribe when brought there by a friend. Captivated by the energy of these teenagers dancing joyfully, their eyes shining and faces radiant, she spent over a year thereafter visiting Harajuku every Sunday with her camera slung over her shoulder. She photographed the Bamboo Shoot Tribe's dances, talked with the members she befriended, and delved deep into their hearts. This precious volume captures the intense and poignant youth of these young people—who found no joy in family or school, and for whom coming here to dance on Sundays was their greatest happiness.