 Cover of April 1978 issue | |
| Editor | Bungaku Itō |
|---|---|
| Categories | Gay |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | 1971 |
| Final issue Number | 2008 400 |
| Company | Daini Shobō |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Barazoku (薔薇族) was Japan's first commercially circulated gay men's magazine. It began publication in July 1971 by Daini Shobō's owner's son and editor Bungaku Itō (伊藤 文學, Itō Bungaku), although before that, there had been Adonis and Apollo, its extra issue, around 1960 serving as a members-only magazine.[1] Barazoku was Japan's oldest and longest-running monthly magazine for gay men. However, it halted publication three times due to the publisher's financial hardships. In 2008, Itō announced that the 400th issue would be the final one.[2] The title means "the rose tribe" in Japanese, hinted from King Laius' homosexual episodes in Greek mythology. The magazine was printed in Japanese only. Barazoku's Bungaku Itō coined the term for the Japanese lesbian community as ("lily tribe") which the slang term for lesbian yuri comes from.
- ^ "Japan's first magazine, and the first in Asia, dedicated to gay men, Barazoku, was launched in 1971". Red Circle Authors. 28 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ 薔薇族 [The Rose Tribe]. Daini Shobo. 2008. pp. 46–55.