Japan’s backpack sales start early, prices rising
The shopping season for traditional school backpacks for first graders in spring 2027 has begun early in department stores and supermarkets in Japan—more than a year before the children enter school.
The average price of “randoseru,” sturdy bags made to last throughout the six years of elementary school, is now about 1.7 times higher than it was 15 years ago, partly reflecting higher material costs and added features.
Typically, the search for randoseru starts as early as April of the previous year and peaks in May, with many parents and grandparents eager to secure popular models. Japan’s shrinking child population has now given them more money to spend on each child.
‘Ran-katsu’
Over the years, parents and grandparents have become increasingly engaged in the early buying trend known as “ran-katsu,” a portmanteau of randoseru and “katsudo,” or activity,” in reference to the search for the box-like bags.
Shinjuku Takashimaya department store in Tokyo opened a dedicated randoseru section in mid-March, with the average retail price at around 76,500 yen ($477).
High, low end
At the high end, a Polo Ralph Lauren randoseru costs 110,000 yen. A woman in her forties living in western Tokyo said her daughter had taken a liking to it. The mother plans to have her child’s grandmother purchase the bag during the upcoming Golden Week holidays.
A school bag industry group said the average price for spring 2025 entrants rose to 60,746 yen from 35,400 yen 15 years ago, with grandparents paying in 54.4 percent of cases.
Rising material and labor costs have pushed up prices, while shoppers have also favored high-function models, such as those with cushioned shoulder straps to ease the burden of heavy loads such as tablet devices.
A randoseru typically weighs 1 to 2 kilograms, minus the textbooks and other school items.
Many products use leather, and artisans craft them carefully to improve durability. Over the years, randoseru have become available in various colors and designs, in a shift from the traditional colors of black for boys and red for girls.
Lower-priced options have also drawn interest, with outdoor gear maker Montbell Co. launching a lightweight nylon school backpack in 2022, priced at 16,000 yen.
The Osaka-based company said sales of the 14-liter model have grown each year.
Shrinking market
Still, the overall market for randoseru, which symbolize a rite of passage for those entering elementary school, has started to shrink.
NLI Research Institute said the market peaked in 2023 and stood at 54.5 billion yen last year, down 1.3 percent from the previous year.
“Even if prices keep rising, it will be hard to offset the population decline,” Naoko Kuga, a senior researcher at the institute, said, adding that “the market will contract gradually.”
