[1] However, Kurata was forced to leave Tokyo in 1913 for health reasons, as he was suffering from both lung and bone tuberculosis and venereal disease.

He also became interested in the writings of philosopher and cult-leader Nishida Tenko [ja], who had created an agrarian commune based on a mixture of Daoism, Christianity, Buddhism, and pacifism, and whose teachings were attracting a wide following in the slum areas near Japan's major cities.

Nishida accepted Kurata as a follower in December 1915, and he came to the commune with his nurse and lover, Haru Kanda, who gave birth to his son in March 1917.

In January, still mostly bed-ridden, he moved to a Buddhist temple in Fukuoka and joining Mushanokōji's commune, Atarashiki-mura as an external member.

[2] However, Kurata had a falling out with the Shirakaba group in 1922, as Mushanokōji joined critics in lambasting his most recent play Chichi no Shimpai ("A Father's Worry", 1921), and the Atarashiki-mura faced bankruptcy.