Randoseru - One of Japanese Kawaii Items

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Randoseru - One of Japanese Kawaii Items

A randoseru, which is a Japanese traditional backpack, is a mandatory item for elementary school kids in Japan. It's common that parents (or sometimes grandparents) buy randoserus for their children before they enroll in elementary school. Children in Japan usually use randoserus for 6 years until they graduate from elementary schools. That's why randoserus should be light and extremely durable. Because randoserus are very high quality bags, they are pretty expensive (about 30,000 yen through 100,000 yen each). When I was 6, my grandparents gave me a red randoseru. It was pretty huge for me at age 6, but it wasn't heavy at all. I used the same randoseru until 12. :) When I was child, red and black randoserus were only available, but now children can choose randoseru from so many different colors. Indeed, my niece chose purple pink one.

These years, I've sometimes heard randoserus are getting popular outside Japan. People travel in Japan and buy some randoserus as "Kawaii" items for kids to adults. Zooey Deschanel, an American actress and a fashion leader, also wears randoseru as a trendy fashion item. Randoserus are also popular for people who love anime because those are often seen on Japanese animation. That's why those have become the latest must-buy souvenir in Japan and are selling like hot cakes at Narita International Airport. I used to think randoserus are only for kids, but adults also use them outside Japan now. It is very surprising to me.

This video shows how to make Fuwarii randoserus in Japan. You can see that randserus are well made by Japanese artisans in this video.