Cycling Cap (Fresh Takoyaki-Party)

My reminiscence to the god of Tako – a cap design with a prehistory.

Tako Yaki is a very popular Japanese snack – a small piece of Octopus and some other ingredients in batter, baked to golfball sized bites on a hot plate with hemispherical deepenings. Usually you buy it at small food stands but if you own one of those electric plates it’s great fun to prepare it at home together with friends and family. That’s a Tako Yaki party.

In May 2023 I was traveling Japan by train and bought a three week J-rail pass ticket to do so. In the beginning of my trip I had lost the ticket – somewhere in front of Nagoya station or on the streets, chances for it to show up again were very small, although my friend Izuru of Daisy Messenger had asked the police and railway staff for help. Nothing could be done that night but waiting. We had a Tako Yaki party at my friends house and Izumi explained that if you use a long o at the end of Tako the meaning will change from „octopus” to ”big luck” so we can now pray to the god of Tako for the ticket to be found. The next day I went to the train station to ask if it is possible to buy the ticket again if necessary. After that I decided to take the same route by bike as the day before and take a close look at the streets at the spots I stopped to check the map. But everything was so clean, nothing on the ground, no chance to find something. Then I noticed that I went too far, Daisy Messenger must be somewhere to the right behind me. Just like yesterday, actually it looks like exactly the same spot as yesterday! I looked around, looked on the ground – and there it was, the small blue plastic case with the ticket inside! Unbelievable big luck!

To express my gratitude I have designed this cap for the god of Tako.

The cap is made of 65% polyester and 35% cotton. Silk screen printed and sewn by Apis in Italy.