9 ms·

$450 for a School Bag?

• xtiansimon 3y ago
  In college a friend had a leather school bag, which, I recall, he described as used by primary school students in Holland. Same sort of concept. It’s meant to last for your primary schooling. Made from leather, in the shape of a briefcase with shoulder straps. I think the idea is if you take care of it as a child, then at some point you transition from stiff shoulder bag to broken-in briefcase—or something like that. Symbolic of a transition to adulthood. BTW-That video was really lovely. I liked the simple montage of the workers at the end.
• nunez 3y ago
  $450 for a custom, hand-made leather backpack is a pretty decent price. Leather bags last forever if taken care of and look better as they age. That could easily be a lifetime bag.
• grogenaut 3y ago
  Looks like it would be a fun project to hand craft
• dylanzhangdev 3y ago
  To insert a sentence that has nothing to do with the topic, I am in China. My daughter is in the second grade of elementary school. Her schoolbag must weigh 6 kilograms and contains various books, exercise books, and test papers. This was not the case when I was in elementary school. My little schoolbag was empty, with only 2 books and 2 thin notebooks. Nowadays, children have too much homework and they have to write until 10pm every day.
• metadat 3y ago
  The article tries to articulate the value add through attention to detail in manufacturing "so the bags survive 6 years of rough and tumble", but I'm not really getting it. What am I missing? I had a $60-in-1995 northface backpack that lasted through hauling 5+ periods of textbooks every day, walking and biking to middle school and highschool. It worked fine, in fact my dad still uses it (30 years later) to hold and transport teaching materials for a college course he teaches. Lots of kids got by with a single basic $25 Jansport. Today, kids in the U.S. don't even tote many (or any) books, most of the content and schoolwork takes place on a lightweight Chromebook that stays in the classroom.
  • Doxin 3y ago
    > I had a $60-in-1995 northface backpack that lasted through hauling 5+ periods of textbooks every day Mine did that, and has since been lying out in the rain in the back yard holding firewood. It's a decade+ later and the thing is still perfectly fine other than being a bit dirty. Bet a good wash would get it back to being perfectly usable as a backpack.
  • rascul 3y ago
    > Lots of kids got by with a single basic $25 Jansport. Those zippers never lasted long for me.
  • hnbear 3y ago
    My kids carry a ton of books, I'm a large guy and find their bags weigh a ton, it's awful for my kids. I have a 5'3 100' daughter and her bag weighs a significant portion of her own weight. And their Chromebooks are not the tiny svelte high end ones. They're the chunky cheap and heavy ones too. And they're Middleschool, so can't leave them in one classroom, they get toted around, and back to home for homework every day.
  • rokkitmensch 3y ago
    Three cheers for the Jansport!
    • alpple 3y ago
      I buy Jansport because the zippers never break.
      • tharkun__ 3y ago
        YKK zippers?
  • wraptile 3y ago
    I enjoyed the article but like much of online content about Japan it comes off like obsessive fan service. Can you imagine carrying 1-2kg empty backpack with you every day? Just because something took long to make doesn't mean it's superior in production or quality or even perception. It's pretty, fashionable and the tradition is wholesome but that's where it ends. I got a free backpack with my new Thinkpad laptop recently. It's light, well designed, mass produced, easy to personalize - would take this over the 450$ school bags any time of the year.
• kraig911 3y ago
  I ran with the same Jansport bag from 1989-2000. I wonder if they still offer that awesome warranty? As a kid my family really didn't know about it and it was pre-internet. My grandma was amazing repairing it. These bags do look pretty cool IMO but I feel there's more to the price that is essentially the generational guilt-trip of a custom that makes it that price.
  • bane 3y ago
    I was going to say something similar, I think I had the same cheap Jansport pack from the mid-80s until well into college. Replaced it with another <$25 pack from Costco that I've kept until now. The main difference has been the inclusion of a padded laptop pocket. The free backpacks I get every so often from work are "ok". My employer gave me a <$100-ish pack I've also enjoyed for the last decade or so without trouble. Unless that pack comes with a bit of gold in it, or part of a college degree, I have no idea what makes it worth it.
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• martyvis 3y ago
  While I think Japanese society has lots of good traits and outcomes such as a low crime rate, and a ethic to involve everyone in process improvements, this is another clear example of what the English call "keeping up appearances". It seems Japanese call it "tatemae" - https://japan-dev.com/blog/honne-and-tatemae https://japan-dev.com/blog/honne-and-tatemae
  • csa 3y ago
    > what the English call "keeping up appearances". It seems Japanese call it "tatemae" Definitely not the same, unless I don’t understand the English usage (I’m American, but I’ve spent a lot of time around Brits and British English). Tatemae can run deep in complexity and nuance.
    • CRConrad 3y ago
      > Tatemae can run deep in complexity and nuance. At a guess, so can "keeping up appearances".
• kstrauser 3y ago
  "That's ludicrous!", he says, as he avoids looking at the Filson bag next to his chair. (Although, in fairness, I don't expect to ever have to buy another bag, and I'll take better care of this than I would've any bag my elders gave me as a child.)
• webwielder2 3y ago
  These humans are a curious species.
• irjustin 3y ago
  I _love_ Japanese dedication to craft; really any hyper-focused efforts, but i digress. The problem that I have with this of course is families who cannot afford these really well made pieces of gear (touched on at the end of the article) and where children who can't afford it are ostracized because of it. Growing up I was on meal plans due to our financial status and paying in physical tickets, made me and the others like me a small target of ridicule. Personally I don't think it was a lot, but naturally we banded together and became friends simply because we paid for lunches a particular way. The social pressure is crazy and unnecessary and feel terrible for the kids who can't have it as well as the families who literally sacrifice for it.
  • daguava 3y ago
    [dead]
  • ethbr1 3y ago
    In retrospect, the most ridiculous thing about kids giving each other shit about money is... they're kids. Until they get to ~14+, they don't have any claim to having earned any of their family's wealth.
    • GuB-42 3y ago
      It is not about money, it is about fitting in. Kids don't care how expensive the thing is, it just has to be a certain way. Of course, those who sell the things kids use have every incentive to make it cool to spend a lot of money. It is, btw, among the worst kind of advertising. They target kids, who can be easily manipulated, so that they, in turn, convince their parents. It is sometimes close to a hostage situation, where if parents don't get the expensive thing, their kid gets bullied. Some people want to bring back (affordable!) school uniforms for that reason.
• grishka 3y ago
  If it's so expensive and durable, where does that bag go after school? Why does each generation have to buy new bags, why are they not passed down from parents to children?
  • shermantanktop 3y ago
    Do you expect a sensible “because of reason X” answer to those questions? I have zero expectation of rationality from this type of thing. People will give reasons to buy a new one, just like you gave reasons to use an old one. But ultimately it is the cost/benefit of aligning behaviors with other people which will drive their decisions.
  • ekianjo 3y ago
    Because profits based on social pressure. One of the things I least like about Japanese culture.
• pfannkuchen 3y ago
  > After a few rounds of bastardization, ransel became “randoseru” in Japanese. I thought there was actually a formal transliteration system the Japanese use for foreign words? Like with cutlet becoming katsu retsu. Not quite “bastardization”.
  • pjscott 3y ago
    I don’t know if there’s a formal method, but there is a method – given an English word, I can almost always figure out how to say it as an English-to-Japanese loanword. Somehow. I think it’s just something that comes naturally once you understand the phonetics?
  • henearkr 3y ago
    The author is right that there must have been something going on, because else the transliteration would have resulted in just "ranseru".
  • zuminator 3y ago
    There is a formulaic way to transliterate words based either on their roman lettering or their pronunciation in their native tongue. But loanwords aren't always mere transliterations, they often have some kind of adaptation or simplification. So like for example the word building would be nigh impossible to transliterate relying on its roman lettering alone. It would have to be pronounced something like buierujingu. Using its pronunciation in English would be a better starting point; transcribing that into Japanese sounds would be like birujingu. And what Japanese actually does is take birujingu and cut it in half, and thus the actual word for building is biru. (Well, not exactly. Biru is just talking about modern buildings, like concrete and/or steel construction. The word for "building" in general is tatemono.)
  • bane 3y ago
    A better, and more formal word used in linguistics, would be "corruption".
• tkgally 3y ago
  I was talking about randoseru with my daughter just the other day. She and her sister both attended Japanese public elementary schools and used the same randoseru for all six years. Though she was tall for her age, she complained about the weight of it then and doesn’t have fond memories of it now. Her son will be starting at a public elementary school in Yokohama in a couple of years, and she doesn’t seem eager to get a randoseru for him. While some of the kids I see walking to and from that school have randoseru, most are carrying lighter and more versatile cloth backpacks. This grandparent will be happy to pay for whatever my daughter wants for her son, though it’s likely that she will insist on paying for it herself.
• elijahbenizzy 3y ago
  Interesting points about the nuances of a $450 bag that’s rather impractical when it’s more a story than a justification. I’m just here to comment that this was a lovely read, thanks for posting!
  • kizunajp 3y ago
    Author of the newsletter here. Your comment just made my day :)
• bombcar 3y ago
  https://saddlebackleather.com/thin-front-pocket-leather-backpack/ https://saddlebackleather.com/thin-front-pocket-leather-back... might be closest, but more expensive. https://saddlebackleather.com/tumbled-leather-drawstring-backpack https://saddlebackleather.com/tumbled-leather-drawstring-bac... is cheaper and more realistic, perhaps. https://saddlebackleather.com/leather-backpack-lg https://saddlebackleather.com/leather-backpack-lg is only 2 pounds and cheaper still.
  • kcplate 3y ago
    I have a Saddleback thin front pocket backpack that’s currently 7 years old. I plan on passing it down to my grandson when he graduates college in around 20 years and he can pass it down to his grandkid when he is done with it. Amazing durable products from that company.
• quickthrower2 3y ago
  They're crazy! (Checks how much I have spent on stupid phones...). Ah##!
• JohnBooty 3y ago
  I'd love to know the relative environmental impact of buying: 1. A single high-quality $400 leather randoseru to last six years 2. A single high-quality $200-$400 ripstop nylon bag with high quality zippers, etc (essentially, GoRuck quality level) to last for life 3. Six years' worth of $50 Jansports that last maybe ~3 years each 4. Six years' worth of cheapass $15 Amazon Essentials level nylon bags that last ~1 year each under heavy daily use
  • paxys 3y ago
    This isn't really the math. A $50 backpack from a decent brand will easily last 5-10 years under normal use. You aren't getting anything extra in terms of durability from the $400+ worth of exotic materials and handcrafting. It's a signal of social status, like any other piece of luxury fashion, but not much more than that.
    • JohnBooty 3y ago
      What's "normal use"? Here was my "normal use" as a student in the 1980s and 1990s. - 4 or 5 large books at once, bag often fairly bulging - Zipped and unzipped probably > 20x daily - Dropped onto school, home, and schoolbus floors dozens of times daily with various levels of care - Some walking, some weather exposure (less for me than many others) - One strap always carrying 100% of the load because the style was to wear it over one shoulder; it was never acceptable to wear it with a strap over each shoulder as actually designed Anecdotally I didn't see a lot of $50 Jansports lasting multiple years under those conditions and even if they did they would be pretty grungy. Now... today as a middle-aged adult? Yes, a $50 Jansport easily lasts me 10+ years, probably more like 30, basically a lifetime purchase. Also... today as a student? I guess it's less physical books and more Chromebooks so sure yeah maybe $50 Jansports can be lifetime purchases for kids, why the hell not
      • maxglute 3y ago
        Maybe I'm talking out of my ass but this seems to be designed for regimented JP primary school life. Rigid central compartment for books. No need to accomodate for lunch boxes or water since you get that at school. Or you clothes/shoes for sports and after school activities.
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• dukeofdoom 3y ago
  Seems like a great way to ensure money is spent within the local economy. The backpacks look amazing. In Canada catholic high schools students still wear uniforms. The uniforms are made to last. And the Canadian company that makes them has been in business for 50 years.
  • paulmd 3y ago
    Ah, another commentator rediscovers Keynesianism from first principles ;) It turns out the broken window fallacy is not really a fallacy, under many economic conditions!
• Twflorane 3y ago
  :(
• uptownfunk 3y ago
  What is the website theme ? Very readable
• kizunajp 3y ago
  Hello! Author here. Pleasantly surprised to see this on the front page! I thought I'd address a couple of questions here: - Why is it so expensive? You can definitely buy cheaper randoserus made in China and these are giving lower-end Japanese manufacturers a run for their money. For example, https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B09H5RLGQF https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B09H5RLGQF is around 45 dollars. Even off-the-shelf Japanese randoserus are cheaper than the customized ones. For an example of the well-thought out design of randoseru, this video does a good job: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WtWiuWBU9r8 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WtWiuWBU9r8 Some basic reasons for the high cost are: materials (leather, fake leather) are expensive, there are many parts, manual assembly, and the variations and customizations don't lend themselves to scale. This article lists some reasons Japanese randoseru are so expensive: https://rand--torisetu-com.translate.goog/kakaku?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://rand--torisetu-com.translate.goog/kakaku?_x_tr_sl=au... . - What happens after 6 years? Randoseru often last longer with good care, and are in fact passed down. Many organizations also collect and donate used randoseru to the less privileged. There are also businesses that will recycle the high quality materials into other accessories: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHcgol5i7gs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHcgol5i7gs
  • marak830 3y ago
    In addition to this, some people also get their randoseru "minified", where it's cut up and a fist sized version made. My wife still has hers. My son just received his first randoseru and the company that made it offers to "minify" using almost all of the original key parts from his, in the future.
  • kstrauser 3y ago
    Thanks for a fascinating look into a subject I never would have heard of otherwise.
• gnicholas 3y ago
  We needed very durable backpacks when I was in high school because our books were so heavy, and my school had no lockers (so you were carrying 4-5 textbooks at all times). But as students have shifted to online learning platforms, wouldn't they have less of a need for extremely sturdy/roomy backpacks? I recently spoke to a college grad who said that all of his learning in HS was online, meaning he never needed to carry any textbooks. Do they not use online learning materials as much in Japan? Or is this a cultural phenomenon that will change slowly, even though the need has changed?
  • eru 3y ago
    We also had a bunch of text books in German school, but much cheaper backpacks were able to carry them. (And, you could also just 'forget' your textbook, and nothing really happened.)
    • gnicholas 3y ago
      We were very grateful that in senior year there was an extra set of bio textbooks available in the classroom. Those suckers (Campbell) were monsters! For our other classes it was pretty much mandatory to bring your book, or risk the wrath of your teacher.
      • eru 3y ago
        Of course, you could also just coordinate with the kid sitting next to you, to share one textbook. Lightens the load by 50%.
• egypturnash 3y ago
  Wikipedia's article on randoseru[1] states: A new randoseru made of genuine or synthetic leather can carry a price tag of around 30,000–40,000 yen at a chain store/supermarket. Typically randoseru from department stores or traditional workshops will be priced in the region of 55,000–70,000 yen, with some models (particularly those branded with logos) reaching over 100,000 yen. Clarino, a synthetic material frequently used as a substitute, reduces the cost somewhat. Often randoseru are available on auction sites in new or used condition at much lower prices, particularly after the start of the Japanese school year in April. As of January 2012, the five top randoseru in order of popularity at Amazon.co.jp are in the range of ¥8,280–¥16,980 yen. Translating those numbers to US dollars and rounding a bit, we get: New one at the supermarket: US$ 210-280 Department store or traditional workshop: US$ 390-400 Prestigious logo: $700 Most popular on Amazon.co.jp back in 2012: US$ 60-120. What the distribution of sales are between those $60 bags and those $700 bags is, and how much shit a kid carrying a $60 bag will get from the kids carrying the pricier ones, I dunno. It certainly seems that Mr. and Mrs. One-From-Nippon are definitely looking at some upscale-ass randoseru though. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randoseru https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randoseru
• gbraad 3y ago
  The author wrongly attributes 'rucksack' to Dutch. The Dutch is actually 'rugzak', which is based on the mentioned German word (Deutsch confusion?).