Yep, did that last week
We mentioned randoseru in the Only in Japan: Expenses post. I was a tad scathing about them and got told off on Facebook 😉
Well, last week I went out to buy one with my daughter and granddaughter. In Japan, the grandparents often pay for randoseru so we set off on Sunday to go and look at some.
At first my daughter was interested in looking at some stylish satchel type bags, but after a quick discussion I nixed that idea and we headed to Jusco instead. I figure we can buy trendy designer stuff for my granddaughter when she’s old enough to want it for herself and able to understand the trade-offs involved. So probably in a few months then 😉
I was actually quite impressed. Jusco had a good range of bags, from 35,000 yen to 70,000 yen and up. All the bags were lightweight and seemed sturdy. They come in a range of colours now, and the more expensive ones have all sorts of designs and trinkets attached.
I figured something plain would be best because this is supposed to last for the next six years. I can imagine buying some fairy princess style thing now only for my granddaughter to turn into a tomboy later and regret her choice.
We ended up getting the cheapest one (which was plain and functional, and at 35,000 yen not particularly cheap!). My granddaughter chose the colour. Luckily at five years old she was overjoyed to have gotten the colour she wanted and was happy with the bag itself.
We’ll get the bag in mid-March. If you are also looking to buy a randoseru this year, you might want to do it sooner rather than later.
Now, I am sure there are lots of other options.
For starters, you don’t have to buy a randoseru. They are not mandated by schools, so children could take any bag they wanted. This was what led my daughter to look at the satchels, but I figure children basically want to fit in, so a randoseru is the safest choice unless the child has a strong alternative preference.
​You could also buy a second-hand one. Looking online you can find decent-looking ones from 3,500 yen. Perhaps we should have explored this option! When I went to boarding school I got my uniform second-hand from the ‘nearly-new shop’. No-one noticed or at least they didn’t mention it and it never bothered me.
Randoseru are a big part of Japanese culture. There are all sorts of emotional and cultural expectations around them. However, they shouldn’t be the cause of stress and financial difficulty.
As with any purchase, being aware of your options and conscious of your needs is the key to having a successful outcome.
This time I wasn’t too upset to overpay for the bag: we had a nice day out and my granddaughter will have the bag for a long time. It’s also a big deal for my extended family: my wife’s parents and ex-husband all wanted pictures and updates. It would have been more trouble than it was worth to try to force another option on them, and I wasn’t particularly bothered either way.
Next up: I’m thinking of making a study desk for her. There is a company down the road that helps people build things with wood (they do most of the work cutting, provide the tools and workshop, etc.). I think it will be a fun project to do together. I’ll probably post about it if it happens.
What about you? Any experiences or advice on randoseru?
Went to a “satchel fair” and balked at the prices and cosmetic frills. Shopped online for about 10,000 yen with 6-year guarantee. Looks similar to the pink one in your pic. Halfway through 1st grade and very happy with it.
I think this is an example of how being lazy is not compatible with frugality -I should have done better! 😉
Bought a cheaper range one in black. It lasted six years with no sign of dying, and my son was extremely rough on it. I thought they were awful in the beginning because they are hard, heavy compared to canvass, and not particularly conducive to good posture and balanced distribution of weight. But, all the kids use them, and we didn’t want our son to stick out any more than he already did. It was worth the money. You can buy used ones at the school bazaars, but it really isn’t a bad investment considering how long and how intensively it is used.
That was my thinking as well. Unless she wants to stand out, best to be like the other kids.
When we bought ours—9 years ago, there were no cheaper options/ 2nd hand options so had to buy the 60,000 /// 70,000 yen ones. For our 2nd son, we DID call and ask the school if we HAD to have one—and they said he DID. They’re OK—but are VERY heavy, hard to cram stuff in and also HOT in the summer. The Jr High School satchels are very welcome. I think the days of randoseru are numbered to be honest.
I think the tech has improved: I was really impressed by how light the one we got was 🙂
Yep, we bought two of them this year for my son and daughter. Reasonably lightweight and very sturdy. The cost wasn’t so bad considering that they’ll probably last six years (and could probably be passed down to their kids; they really look durable).
And as you pointed out, there are cultural and emotional ties which made the cost even easier to bear.
Yep, one of the most important cultural adaptation skills is picking your fights, and this one wasn’t worth winning 🙂
Ha, this wasn’t something I would have even thought to fight – if anything it’s something I would have been insisting on LOL. I don’t even think it’s so much about ‘fitting in’ as it is about sharing a cultural DNA. OK, maybe that’s making randoseru a bit too important, but you see my point (I hope).
Oh, absolutely. I don’t think randoseru 100% make sense, but everyone else seems perfectly fine with them and so I didn’t even consider voicing that thought 😉
Boy, what will ¥35,000 yen be worth in 2050?
😉
Anywhere between 0 and around 800,000 yen, depending on what interest rates and the value of the yen/the nature of currency and wealth do over the next 33 years 🙂
I bought one for my daughter on the Rakuten big sale, brand new but a previous year model for only 7,777 yen. She is 4th grade now and still loves it. Got my son one for around 18,000 yen also with a 6 year guarantee, the strap rivet broke and we sent it back to be fixed and it lasted the full six years. At our local elementary school all the children use a randoseru throughout the six grades but I have heard that at some schools they only use it for the first year or two. Since we didn`t pay too much I had no problem taking my son`s to a recycle shop after he graduated. To my surprise we got 400 yen for the bashed, grubby thing!
I got a new one on Yahoo Auctions for my son 6 years ago, for Â¥6000. It has lasted beautifully. I couldn’t find that good of a deal for my daughter so we bought the display model at Nitori. A slight scuff took the price down from Â¥30000 to Â¥15000. It has also lasted well. I’m glad we bought dark colours for both (navy and brown) because it’s the light pink, purple, and yellow that seem to look worst in grade 5 and 6.
I think that this was probably cheaper than buying a new canvas or nylon bag every year as we would have back home. Also, there’s less ridiculous fundraising and selling of $5 chocolate bars here.
My question is, why do they have to carry textbooks to and from school every day? My son brings home the same books every day and never uses them at home. Homework is almost always a separate print, so why make the kids haul their books around all the time. On Monday when they need to bring in extra stuff and my son also has basketball he looks like he is moving house or something.