🎒 SOCIETY · School in Japan · 2026-08-01

Randoseru: the ¥60,000 backpack every Japanese child carries for six years

Q: Why are Japanese school backpacks so expensive?

A randoseru is built to last the full six years of elementary school in real or synthetic leather, which is why high-end models pass sixty thousand yen. Grandparents often buy one as an entrance gift.

世界で有名なランドセル

Same news, rewritten for 6 Japanese school grades — pick your level below. Furigana + translation included.

171 chars · ~3 min · 19 kanji

🎒 SOCIETY 世界せかい

Same sentence · 6 levels

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日本にほんの小学生しょうがくせいはかたいランドセルを使つかいます。

せなかにせおって、教科書きょうかしょを入いれて学校がっこうへ通かよいます。

むかしは赤あかと黒くろが多おおかったですが、今いまはいろいろな色いろがあります。

とてもじょうぶで、六年間ろくねんかん使つかえます。

少すこし重おもいですが、体からだをまもるように作つくられています。

世界せかいでも有名ゆうめいになりました。

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Translation

Japanese elementary students use the hard randoseru bag.

They carry it on their back, put textbooks inside, and go to school.

Long ago most were red and black, but now there are many colors.

It is very sturdy and can be used for six years.

It is a little heavy, but it is made to protect the body.

Around the world, it has become famous.

Why are Japanese school backpacks so expensive?

When a child enters first grade in Japan, the family buys a randoseru — a rigid leather backpack built to survive all six years of elementary school without breaking. It is made from real or synthetic leather, and because it is carried on the back it leaves both hands free and gives the child's body some protection.

For a long time the default was black for boys and red for girls. Today buyers choose from dozens of colours. The bags are expensive: high-end models run over sixty thousand yen, and they are very often bought by grandparents as a gift for a grandchild starting school.

In recent years lighter and cheaper models have grown in popularity, and foreign visitors now buy randoseru as souvenirs, which has made the bag recognisable well outside Japan.

This story is written at six Japanese school-grade levels. Pick the level that matches the kanji you already know, and read it in real Japanese with furigana and an English translation.

Do randoseru still come only in black and red?

No. Black for boys and red for girls used to be the default, but families now choose from dozens of colours, and lighter, cheaper models have grown in recent years.

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