Recently I've been interested in the 1971 album, Satori by Flower Travelin Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxB55yaWG-I It is extremely heavy for the time and contains the earliest example of a thrash metal riff that I've ever heard. Now, I'm aware that drug laws in Japan are currently very strict (possibly due to pressure from the United States after the start of the war on drugs, though that's just speculation on my part). Given that this album was released in 1971, I feel that there's a good chance drug laws didn't exist in Japan like they do today, given that the war on drugs would take time to exert international influence. Also, given the content of the album I would be very surprised if the band members didn't get inspiration from smoking cannabis and potentially tripping on LSD. This is all speculation on my part, so does anyone have any factual info on how drugs were treated in Japan in the late 1960s and early 1970s?
Althoug the Cannabis Control Law was implimented in 1948, the first time it was apparently used was two decades later during the 1960's. About halfway down this webpage, an excerpt from the December 1995 issue of the "Jiyu Ishi" publication states that. "The first time it [Cannabis Control Law] was used was in the fall of 1967. Officials used it to seize about 20 stalks that we were harvesting at a commune in Shinshu (Nagano Prefecture). Then about six months later, five of my friends from the "tribe" commune were busted, and this marked the beginning of the marijuana liberation movement. In the late 1970s, one person filed a suit against the government, claiming the law was unconstitutional, and we held the first "marijuana symposium" at Kyoto University. The symposium this year was actually the second then, a full 17 years after the first."
The source website is http://www.twics.com/~anzu/15-Hemp.html, but it doesn't seem to be up anymore.