I was researching for the cost of pre-primary-school preparation in Japan the other day and found out that the bag called Randoseru accounts for more than half the cost.
What is Randoseru?
Randoseru is a backpack that primary school kids use. When I was a kid, there were mainly black or red Randoseru, black for boys and red for girls. It could be a cause of bullying if you have different colors such as pink or orange, but it seems things have changed. There are more colors and more options for kids and I see kids having various colors of Randoseru these days.
Isn’t it too expensive?
The average price of Randoseru is JPY45,000-70,000 whereas the total cost of pre-primary-school preparation is about JPY80,000-130,000.
Wait… Don’t you think Randoseru is too expensive? Some say Randoseru will be used until graduation of primary school which is for 6 years, so it is worth paying such an amount and it comes with 6 year insurance too.
But, is it really worth the price? Randoseru is not an appointed item by Japanese government (It might be appointed to buy a certain backpack if it is a private school), which means kids do not need to use Randoseru for going to their primary school. Kids can use a normal backpack too. (But I know kids want to have things that other kids have.)
Many Japanese people might think they need to use the same Randoseru for 6 years, but there is another option that you can get second or third bags as your kids grow and have different taste from when they were 5-6 y/o.
For example, this Randoseru below is available for JPY9,000 on amazon coming with 6 year insurance. If kids broke it, you can fix it with the insurance or you can simply buy a new one. You spent less than JPY30,000 even if you repurchase it three times in 6 years. Kids can choose different colors too.
Am I stingy?
Some people might think I’m stingy. I admit that I’m quite strict on what I spend money on. My parents offered me to buy a Randoseru (expensive cordovan one) for my daughter but if they wanna do something for my daughter, I want them to take her on a trip or to a nice restaurant instead of buying an expensive Randoseru.
I believe it is important to think whether it is worth what you pay when you buy something.
I don’t wanna pay for a JPY50,000 Randoseru but I recently bought a JPY25,000 espresso coffee machine. For some people, it might be a waste of money because you need to buy grained coffee, clean the machine every time you make a cup of coffee, or because it is just easy to buy a JPY100 coffee at a seven-eleven. For me, it was worth paying JPY25,000. My husband used to work in a cafe in New Zealand and he enjoys making coffee with the coffee machine. He is happy to have better coffee (He was so disappointed in quality of coffee in Japan when he first came to Japan.) and I am happy to see my husband’s happy face.
So, always think “Is it really worth it?” if your answer is yes, go for it even though other people stop you saying “Don’t waste your money for such a crap”.
If JPY100,000 Randoseru is worth buying for you, go for it!
