"[1] Although zoku was applied to others in society, like senior citizens, salarymen, and political activists (e.g. Uyoku dantai), it was mostly used to label youth subcultures.
At the height of the hippy movement and the psychedelic age in the 1960s, the futen zoku (フーテン族) or vagabond tribe emerged in the Shinjuku area of Japan.
A 1970s Japanese punk movement was known as karasu zoku (からす族,crow tribe) because they wore black clothing and accessories.
Other parts of Tokyo such as Roppongi and Ginza have been centers of Japanese popular culture, and many zoku have been named after sites in these localities.
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 yuppies.