The story of baka inaka: how it all began
In 2006, an English teacher on the JET programme was living in the small, rural town of Ono, in the prefecture of Fukui, Japan.
As he came to the end of his stay he wanted to buy a Fukui t-shirt as a souvenir of his two years’ worth of adventures spent exploring the rice paddy roads, crystal clear lakes and snowy mountains of the area.
But after a long search, he came home empty handed; it seemed that there just weren’t any Fukui t-shirts for sale.
Frustrated with the lack of a suitable souvenir, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Enlisting the help of a fellow English teacher and artist, he developed a quirky design that incorporated inconic symbols of Fukui prefecture into a good looking t-shirt, and included the phrase baka inaka.
Realising that the Fukui t-shirt might appeal to others, the design was shown off to the Fukui community, both foreign and Japanese. The response was overwhelmingly positive, though not without controversy!
The Controversy Commences
Due to the nuclear connection and the phrasing ‘baka inaka’, the shirt generated much controversy and interest within the Fukui community.
Debate raged through the karaoke clubs and pubs of the ken, and baka inaka articles appeared in JETfuel – Fukui’s English language magazine. The t-shirts were even mentioned in the Daily Yomiyuri – Japan’s largest English language newspaper.
A Fukui prefectural official claimed the shirt was “extremely offensive” and “should not be worn inside Fukui” but many Japanese people loved the design, which was reflected in the huge interest in the first ever baka inaka t-shirt which had to be reprinted after its initial release to meet the unexpected demand.
Some foreign residents claimed the design was in bad taste and a handful of locals weren’t enamoured with their prefecture being depicted as a cloud of steam rising from a nuclear cooling tower.
But the vast majority of people – both foreign and Japanese – took the baka inaka design for what it was; a completely unique, light hearted, tounge-in-cheek way of showing affection for Fukui’s rural quirkiness.
For several years, the baka inaka design was available only in Fukui through sporadic, limited-edition print runs. But over the years, more and more people kept asking where they could buy the now-infamous baka inaka t-shirts.
To meet the ongoing demand for the design, which has become a little part of Fukui history, a whole range of baka inaka and ‘I love inaka’ Fukui products, including t-shirts and hoodies, are now available from the baka inaka online shop and can be shipped to almost anywhere in the world.
Who created the design?
The baka inaka design was concieved by former Ono JETs Sam Baldwin and Caitlin Hansen who spent two years in Ono.
To learn more about Fukui, see Sam’s Fukui Blog – a collection of stories and photographs documenting adventures in this beautiful, little known backcountry part of Japan.
Caitlin now lives in Portland, Oregon, and continues to paint and draw – see more of her excellent work here: Sketches (etc).
Sam went on to write about his experiences in his book: For Fukui’s Sake: Two years in rural Japan, as well as for national papers, magazines and guidebooks. View Sam’s writing portfolio here.
He also runs SnowSphere.com – the website for ‘snow travellers’, which was inspired by his experiences in Fukui’s little known ski areas.
