Gainare Tottori is the new name for the club that, until the turn of the century, had gone by the simple name of SC Tottori. The choice of name is not only creative, and particularly representative of the area where the team is based, but it also has strong fan support, having been selected from among several candidate names by popular vote. "Gainare" has the advantage of sounding vaguely Italian, while appealing to regional pride. The term is a combination of the Tottori-area slang term "gaina" --which has various applications but generally is used to mean "big", "great", "impressive", or "strong" -- and "nare", the emphatic form of the verb "to become". In other words, it uses a unique local slang expression to generate the meaning "Become great!" or "Be strong!".
SC Tottori was founded in 1983, but despite rising as high as the JFL, the team's ambitions remained limited until the new name was adopted. Thereafter, Gainare received enthusiastic support from a local hero -- Masayuki Okano -- who is instantly recognized throughout Japan for the celebratory sprint he made towards the bench, after scoring the goal that sent Japan to the 1998 World Cup. Okano, who is often referred to simply as "Yajin" (Wild Man), joined the team as a player in 2009 and has remained with the team ever since as a team executive, publicity generator and the funding source behind "Yajin Stadium". More than a few people believe that Yajin himself was the partial inspiration for Gainare's mascot, known as "Gainax".
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