Aussie bloke Jason has been bombarded with thousands of overseas orders for his $14.95 tote bag - and they're still coming. This is the wild reason why

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It was a typical morning in the regional NSW town of Broken Hill when local artist Jason McCarthur logged onto his computer to discover an unusual online order request.

The owner of the town's art, rock and souvenir shop had received a message from a person in Japan, asking if he could sell them a specific artwork-printed tote bag sold only in his small-town store. 

The bag was one of a small run that featured a print of Jason's original painting, depicting a streetscape cross section of his hometown.

But within the hour, two additional online order messages had landed in his inbox - also from Japan.

The artist, who has been painting for over 20 years, told Daily Mail he immediately found the out-of-the-blue overseas requests 'odd' - and even more so when one of the buyers asked Jason if they could buy 10 of the tote bags from him.

The bizarre request prompted Jason to message the first person back, asking if they knew the reason he suddenly had all these requests for his tote bag from Japanese buyers.

'They told me that the reason this is happening is because a very famous musician in Japan, Fujii Kaze, was seen carrying one of my bags in a documentary that was made for Japanese television.

'At that stage, they had only released the promo trailer for the documentary - and one of the scenes was him carrying the bag. I guess people saw it and just randomly started searching online for "Broken Hill tote bag" - and they found me.'

Jason McCarthur, a regional NSW artist and owner of McCarthur's souvenir and art shop in Broken Hill experienced a bizarre turn of events almost two years ago when he was inundated with order requests from Japan 

The reason Jason's tote bag became suddenly sought over in Japan was because J-pop musician Fujii Kaze was filmed carrying one of Jason's printed artwork tote bags in a TV documentary 

Prior to this, Jason says his small store on Argent Street in Broken Hill had only ever sold a hundred or so tote bags over the course of several years. 

But within days of those first orders, more and more continued showing up in his inbox.

'I only had 25 left in store by that point, so I rang my supplier who prints the bags and told him, "Look, I'm not exactly sure what's happening here, but I hear someone famous in Japan has been seen with this tote bag, and maybe I better get a few extra made",' he said.

'I ordered 100 and just thought I'd see how that goes. Well, during that time between placing the order and waiting for the new batch to arrive, I was continuously getting messages to buy more of them. By the time those 100 bags arrived, I had already sold the lot.

'So I rang the supplier back and said, "mate, I need to order another hundred more". Knowing my luck, I thought I'd sell one and get stuck with 99. But in the next three days, I'd sold out of that next 100 as well.'

The sudden influx of orders, as well as having to make arrangements to package and ship them to Japan, quickly created a logistical nightmare for Jason and his wife, Amy - and he laughs that they were 'driving the people at the Post Office absolutely nuts trying to get them all sent out'.

It has now been almost two years since Jason received that first fateful tote bag purchase - and to this day he continues to receive order requests from Japan.

But the big question was: how did a bespoke tote bag made by a regional Aussie artist wind up in the hands of one of Japan's biggest pop stars?

Jason recounts that it all traces back to a fateful day in early 2024 when a member from Fujii's music production crew walked into his shop.

The sudden influx in demand for Jason's tote bags was difficult to keep up with - particularly as he needed to arrange to ship these orders to Japan

Jason explains that the artwork featured on the bag is a print of a streetscape painting that depicts life 'above and below' the mining town of Broken Hill

'This Japanese gentleman came into the shop, and just like anyone else, I asked him how he was and what he was looking for. He mentioned that he was here in town with a production crew because there was a Japanese musician filming a music video at nearby Mundi Mundi.

'He bought a selection of different souvenirs from the store and then said he wanted to come back and get some more things - but could only come in on Sunday, which he noticed was a day we're not open.'

Being the accommodating person he naturally is, Jason offered to open the store especially for the gentleman, so he could pick up a few extra items.

'I remember he bought the tote bag along with many other different things.

'But I thought nothing of it. It was nice that he and their crew came back and  supported our small business, and we appreciate every customer. They bought more than the average person, because it was a large crew he was travelling with.

'But I had never heard of Fujii Kaze and didn't think anything more of it.'

During the period that Jason was filling the seemingly endless orders of tote bags from Japan, he was approached with an offer by one of the early buyers, a woman named Hiroko.

'She'd bought about 15 bags before and messaged me one day to ask if I would mind if she resells the bags.'

Jason runs McCarthur's, a store in Broken Hill that sells his artwork along with rocks and souvenirs. He also likes to work on his smaller paintings inside the store

Jason recalls that one of Fujii's music video producers stopped by the store in early 2024 to purchase a few items - including the now famous tote bag. He never imagined it would one day lead to him selling the bag to thousands of Japanese customers

Jason jumped at the suggestion, admitting he had been struggling to fill the orders as a non-Japanese speaker, and knowing it would be a smoother process to have someone on the ground in Japan fulfilling the order requests.

'I went with my instinct and trusted her - and she ended up taking over the Japanese sales. Through her, we wound up selling hundreds.'

To date, Jason estimates they've sold as many as 2,000 bags and counting. Sales continue to come in bursts - often tied to links with the famous singer. For instance, they experienced a spike when the documentary officially aired on Japanese television.

Another came when Fujii personally sent a framed, signed poster to the West Darling Community Arts Centre in regional NSW. When Jason took a photo of the displayed image and shared it to his Instagram account, sales increased again, especially when Fujii's own social media account liked the post.

'It's been like a rollercoaster ever since,' Jason reflected.

Uncovering a fan base for his artwork on an opposite corner of the world prompted Jason to broach Hiroko with the idea of doing an exhibition - and she was immediately on board with it.

'It's always been a dream of mine to have an exhibition overseas somewhere. So Hiroko found a gallery space in Shibuya in Tokyo, which was on top of a café.'

Using the existing base of tote bag customers, along with Jason's Instagram account, they sent out some promotional messages for the four-day Japan exhibit. 

In the end, around 250 visitors poured through the gallery, eager to meet Jason in person, purchase more tote bags and even pick up some of his original artworks.

The interest in Jason's artwork even created an opportunity for him to hold a four-day exhibit in Tokyo, Japan

Jason shared a picture of the signed portrait sent by Fujii to the West Darling Community Arts Centre - sparking another flurry of interest in the tote bags

A humbled Jason made it his mission to personally speak with every single person who came to see his artwork, even giving them little thank you gifts for attending. He was stunned to learn that some had even travelled from as far as Osaka especially to  see his work.

However, the one person that Jason hopes to one day personally thank is Fujii himself.

That simple simple act of the J-Pop musician carrying the printed bag has changed the course of Jason's life - and he has already created a very special thank you gift that he hopes to one day give to Fujii - when he can figure out where to send it.

In the interim, Jason says that a simple tote bag - which can be purchased from $14.95 and around $28 with shipping - has changed the course of his life and allowed him to dream bigger than he ever imagined.

The online sensation his art created has now prompted him to build a website for online sales orders, which will be live within weeks. You can visit it at jasonmccarthur.com.

For now, his original artwork and printed tote bags, along with other printed items like tea towels, mugs, magnets and more can be purchased via his Instagram account @mccarthurart or by dropping by the Broken Hill McCarthur's store in person.

But the entire wild ride has given the modest artist a chance to push past the inner self-doubt he says he's long harboured.

'It's all been very overwhelming. I don't accept praise easily and have never really had this experience of people praising me,' Jason said.

Fujii Kaze is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician who shot to notoriety at the age of 12 by sharing piano song covers on YouTube

Jason's family (left to right): wife Amy and daughters Sarah and Caitlyn, are extremely proud and supportive of his artwork 

'But everything that's happened with Fujii Kaze and this tote bag, I think I'm slowly starting to believe a little bit more in myself. I've always been a glass half empty person.

'But my wife is very supportive, and so are my daughters, and my mother lives with us too. They've always sort of believed [in me]. So now, I'm trying to put that into practice myself.

'I don't necessarily want to be a wealthy person - I give too much away. But I just want us to have a comfortable life and if this is something we can gain a little bit extra from, that'd be fantastic.'

And if anyone out there knows how to reach Fujii, let him know that Jason has a present wrapped and waiting for him.