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Um Danny, I think you need to change the word "bother in law" before he gets to read it. ^^

So much money for a backpack?! OMG!!!

No wonder only a few Japanese couples have children! Education is expensive in Japan O_o

Being a college student is expensive enough. I just now wasted about $2k in text books and I still have 2 more years to go -.-" But those bags look like plastic toys to me lol Idk it looks like a doll accessory to me.

Public education here is free all the way up to the end of high school - then you're on your own for postsecondary education. Most people got to university or college, and take out hefty student loans to do so.

Private education here is not very common - do you know a rough estimate of how many kids go to public vs. private education? The education levels here are pretty much the same no matter which you choose, so nearly all stick with public. Private schools are generally for parents who want their kids going to a Catholic school, or for easy entrance into a university (there's an escalator style thing going with University of Toronto; the ironic thing is that it costs more per year to send your kid to the affiliated private school than the university itself).

It's horrifying to me, how much money is needed for education in Japan. That bag is definitely sturdy, but wow...so expensive. I won't mention how heavy it is, because I remember carrying a heavy backpack to school in Hong Kong as an elementary student as well. At least it's durable - this six-year-old randoseru is in far better condition than the cheap thin backpacks that I used and had to replace every two years.

And...going to school for two weeks? o_O Seems a bit odd to me - if I was only living somewhere for two weeks or even two months I wouldn't bother going to school.

well k through 12 is free in the US, although taxes and lottery profits make up for it.. so in the end we still pay.

university... oh good grief.. just finshed my 4 year BFA and cost me $85,000 and it just keeps on getting higher... course, i went to a private uni, but the quality ones like yale and mit cost a crapload more

While private school tuition falls upon the parents themselves, I believe public school here is paid for by taxes. Kids here just carry backbacks or whatever is convenient to hold their books. University students are responsible for their own tuition whether it be by selling their kidney or stripping part time. Wonder if LV in Japan sells their own randoseru.

Becky-chan is sexy-chan

Are those estimated costs the total or on an annual basis? Is it also inclusive of things like school uniforms? Wow. I expected the cost of raising a child in Japan to be high, but this is pretty ridiculous. Then again, if someone was to setup free education in Japan, parents would immediately write the option off as substandard education and opt to pay a premium.

Wow compulsory backpack AND it costs money to go to public school up to high school? o_o Expensive to get an education over there...

i can't believe that a backpack would cost so much money. i feel bad for the parents who cannot afford to buy one

Wow that is expensive! All public kindergartens through high schools here are free. University isn't though but if you can't pay for it you can apply for a government discount or a free tuition paid for by the state. You must meet certain criteria and you must do well to continue getting aid.

I can't believe you have to pay for public education I thought that was what taxes were for. Also isn't sending kids to school mandatory in Japan, after rescript. Must be so expensive to have children there especially with stuff like 600 dollar backpacks. Maybe you can buy a randoseru from a different country and it will cost less.

Wow that second randoseru ad with becky-chan is real cuuuuuuuuute
can we get more info on her?

Yah, partially due to the psychology of wanting to be like everyone else, not standing out, doing all the standardised items, whether it be bags, uniform, lunchbox, scrap pieces of paper, marketing firms know how to sell their stuff >.>

and yea, university is hecticly expensive if you go private in japan.... but i asked the students of major public universities, mainly Kyoto and Tokyo Universities and they don't charge much at all..... so being smart and making the exams also provide great savings :P

heard it was same for other levels of high school depending on the school/region.

and thats why so many japanese students study so diligently =)

I think it's fair for the expensiveness. Just look on how many people in Japan are talented. Unique in every way. But still it hurts to pay so much. That's why our region costs above average for us middle-class. It hurts, we can't lease a car yet. D:

Education in Japan is expensive!!!!111 0.0

Also, first time I've ever seen a randoseru before. I haven't watched Kodomo no Jikan (wife banned it from my watch list), so this is the first time I've seen these. I always thought that even grade school kids carried a ka-bang (oddly, the same word with the exact same pronunciation in Japanese and Korean).

Damn, never would have guessed that these backpacks cost that much lol :p. It also surprised me that education was that expensive in Japan. Where I am, in Canada, I find the tuition pretty cheap. I followed my education in a private school (which I absolutely despised) and had to pay about 3000$-3500$ each year. I truly wish I had been sent in a public school. Most of my years in the private school were awful and my parents had to pay for that private school which kind of gave my parents a chance to bring up the topic of how much they spent on me and make me feel guilty T^T.

Damn those are expensive but seeing how they are built like a tank it's probably about the same as buying your kid a new one every year like most parents do here.

K-12 education here is free then your on your own for college, if you are poor enough or smart enough you can get most of the university cost covered by government grant or scholarship. If you cant get either those there is always student loans. I was kind of in the middle during my time at uni not poor enough to get all the costs covered and not smart enough for a white male into computers to get a scholarship. Ended up about 15k in debt after four years at school

I think the most my parents have spent on a backpack for me was about 100 US dollars for a nice JanSport. School here in the US is free but I really think our schools could use some more money, and definitely some tougher curriculum. I found almost all my classes to be to easy, this made it real hard to want to put any effort in my work. As for collage, going to State University costs almost 2000 US dollars without counting the cost for my books.

Wow those bags! hehe my smaller dolls has a doll size version :P not as expensive tho ^^;

My parents handled all the costs for grade school so I don't know how much that cost, but as for University, I pay a little over $6000 per year for tuition and $600-$900 per year for textbooks. That works out to be less than $30k for a Univeristy degree.

I didn't realize randoseru would be so expensive @___@;

At my college, tuition is really expensive; however, I have a fee waiver that cuts costs by a little more than half, but it still rounds up to be expensive if you don't count book costs. I ended up buying a bunch of books off of half.com because they were way overpriced at the campus bookstore...ugh!

Almost choked on my drink when I saw the prices of these when I was in Kyoto! They are Pretty awesome though - wish i'd had a bag like that at school!

In the U.S., it depends on the state. In most states, public education is free, and private institutions charge for instruction. The military offers a separate, free system for dependents known as the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (now under the Department of Education). These schools are located at overseas bases and some U.S.-based installations.

University education is a totally different story. State institutions are typically low cost for residents of said state, and expensive for out-of-state residents (though not always the case). The private universities tend to be extremely expensive. My four year degree cost nearly US$100K in the mid-90s. The same institution now costs over US$150K for four years. >.<

As for randoseru, I've thought of getting one for my girl when she starts school next year. ^^

After reading this article I feel Blessed to be living in Malaysia, Elementary and High school are government run. All I need to pay for are the reference books and other small assortment like uniforms and tuition fee. Even the text books are provided by our school system. Even the poor can afford to send their children to school here.

Always wonder why Japanese couple hardly have more then 2 child be family, look at how high the education fund gonna cost.

Feels like they're paying to torture the kids with those things...Since it costs an arm and a leg to put kids through school, no wonder parents are so strict...here we pretty much take it for granted since it's free (if you're in public school anyway)...

Schooling here is generally very cheap, even in private schools. Public universities are really cheap as well, my Civil Engineering degree course only run up to around RM2k per semester, two semester per year, for four years. That's around RM16k max for the whole course, around 400k yen or USD4.5k.

If I was in Japan, my kids would never step foot in a school with those prices. They'd go to the Walmart equivalent school.

Wish school was free now as University is a killer to my wallet...
I might had spent around over $9000 CAD on my university funds...argh...I wish it was like your times which university cost nothing...
I'm looking at those bags and I say...glad the government didn't approve those bags here in Canada...I think my bags at most cost me $70 (which is a laptop bag which I use now) and the cheapest as I can remember was around $15. I might had used 8 bags from Elementary school to uni.

wow, $650 USD for one backpack...for 6 years? that's like about $109 USD per year for those of us who replaces backpacks annually

as for schools and education, let's just say that the ones I used to go to only teaches what you only need to know to get a job after high school (Algebra 2, English, US History, Government and Economics, technical/practical classes)

as for college and universities...those depends on where you go, mine is like $15000 USD per year

Whoa...that's...uber expensive >x<''

I didn't know those bags costs a bomb. Tuition fee here is also expensive, that's for private schools. And I don't think one would like to send their child to public schools in my country.

basic education (primary and secondary school) here is cheap. tertiary education will start to cost a bomb. but many youngsters here still chose to go university for hope that with a degree they will get a better job.

although in my opinion, experiences and willingness to learn on the job is more important than paper qualifications, but sadly university graduates do get a head start in terms of position and salary.

Wow, bag alone cost that much??!!
Do Japan has the garage sales thingy, where you can buy someone else no-longer-needed used items at far cheaper price?

At first, I was shocked by the bag prices, but considering how much I've spent on bags during my high school years... it's pretty close.

i remember wearing backpacks when i was little. i had a jurassic park one and a batman lunchbox with thermas. it was awesome. ahahaha good times

Public K-8th grade schooling is free. But dang those randoseru are expensive. If a person/company decided to sell them at a much cheaper price, theyt could easily make killing.

Wow, $4-500 for a backpack... Even though you use it for 6 years, I think it's a bit much. Even if you say you would buy a backpack every year for 6 years of elementary school, that is still about $8-90 a year and normal backpack cost maybe about $3-40? I feel bad for the grandparents who have to buy randoseru for their grand children even though they love them to do so >_<

woah~ Randoseru takai!!!
i always have the impression that they were cheap now Danny has enlightened me yet again :D

Almost half the comrades here have free education?!?

i got free ed for primary and went to a private school for secondary ed
now that im in a technical college for tertiary ed , the government pays for everything: College fees, transport, weekly spending money for food/etc

really sucks though, i didn't get to have any language courses in secondary school - there were simply o teachers that teached langauges

hell, those bags look darn sturdy - i wouldnt've minded if i had to carry one

Baw I want that Rin fig~

It costs to go to University in the UK now. £3145 or thereabouts I think. I see a load of petitions saying they want to stop tuition fees going up, so it seems like it might be going up more in price.
I think education up to that point is free I'm not sure. I know that College is not compulsory but I don't remember my parents paying anything for it.

Wow didn't realize they were that expensive! Hmm I think I remember my parents or grandparents calling my backpack a "ransel" way back when.

I went to private school in Jakarta and in Vancouver, so it's expensive for my parents -.- My mom volunteered at school so we get a bit of a discount towards the school fees. And yes we all wore uniforms too, none of those "my clothes are better than yours therefore I'm better" sorta thing.

wow, such bags that cost over 100usd, my current one is only about 70usd and it's pretty durable. Then again I see the cost of education, which is like a bomb when it's free in the US, well paid through taxes.

Kindergarten(0)-12 grades are free. College and/or University however, is not. If you're going to a Junior college like me though, it's a really cheap but not free. It adds up pretty fast too...

*Sigh* I guess I will have to remove that off my souvenir list =P

But ouch! That is very costly... for both Randoseru and the actual education. I feel sorry for anyone with a high number of children to send to school at the same time.... My school bag for high school wasn't that expensive, was much bigger and very very supportive....

I did have school fees, but in comparison to this... not so bad...

In my country public education is free all the way to college, in terms of quality it's always better to go to private schools although in college there is no difference, in fact some public universities have better programs than private ones.

Kids will always want to have whatever the other kids have, that's why almost all publicity is directed at them. So it wouldn't surprise me that despite the fact that the randoseru can last a lifetime many kids have new ones quite often.

One question what does your niece think of uncle Danny's figures?

COOL~!!!!
This is the first time i saw this kind of item via pictures XD
Still at awe and reminded me quickly of Rin Kokonoe of KnJ
Expensive bag is expensive XD

Damn....JP prices just are so high. Both for the bags and the schools. An (moderately) expensive bag over here costs rougly €100+, but not €500 like those randoseru. BTW 'ransel' seems more German to me, but then again maybe it's an old word. Nowadays it's called rugzak (rug=back) + zak(=pack).

I don't know about sending kids to school here (believe we're only charged from 3rd grade highschool onward) but uni costs about €1500 per year...how do Japanese people afford it all?

university costs here in Canada are about 4000$ a year + living and such. so about 8 - 10000$ a year including everything and depending on your program...

but i guess i should consider this to be pocket change considering my high school cost 44000$ a year.

Wow, didn't realize how expensive it was to raise kids in Japan. Thanks for the info.

Primary, secondary, and 6th form education here is all free unless you go private.

My university education costs over £3000 a year for tuition. I get that subsidised by about 95% because my family doesn't earn much (you have to apply for the grant for this though). If your family earns more you're obliged to pay in full.

Loans through the university are available to cover tuition and living, and are from about £4000 a year each depending on which you apply for. (£8k a year)

I pay the rest of the tuition, and my own expenses for travelling. Thankfully I live at home, and don't have to worry about getting any living expense loan. Though this leaves me without having to pay much, It's £84 a month for travel, and the schooling leaves me with little time to work in between. As such I'm paying out of poocket which I saved up when I was working full time, and bringing in virtually nothing. I could do with finding myself a good weekend job, although, that sometimes conflicts with what I do also. (Finding it hard to fund my hobbies as such)

Persoanlly I think it's sick how the government push more and more of us each year to take university courses, and then hike the prices up also like they have been doing.

I want to have a Randoseru for myself =3

Maybe I could use it as my laptop bag XD

Wow...that's insane! I could never imagine paying that much for a backpack! But it is kinda nice...

O_O OH GOD I AM SO SORRY didn't mean to post all those comments! It didn't seem like it was loading >.<

Oh my goodness, the cost of a child's education is so expensive. I can't imagine raising a child there.

That's insanely expensive for a bagpack.

Back in my elementary and high school, My parents send me to a private school which cost about 12000 Yen permonth for elementary and high school which I find it quite expensive but since my parents wants me to study in a better school which I find it terrible about. orz

As for my university in Japan which I'm planning to enroll into, will be covering up by the scholarship which I'm going to apply for so that I can to pay less or free if possible.

It's that a traditional japanese bags for elementary schoolers? That is so expensive to buy some bags. But its a cool bags for sure.

Education in university is not free, you need to pay 975€ per year here in public university and it only covers classes and safety insurance nothing else. I don't mind paying this amount or even pay more if we had good conditions in terms of resources and equipments, but with air conditioners not working in most rooms in cold weather, electronic equipment is old and some is damaged...really our universities makes shames me

education is getting more and more expensive nowdays here, the cost of enrolling a kid to elementary school is now as expensive as my university enroll fee...12 years ago

Education here is free from kindergarten to high school in public schools. But once you get into college, you gotta pay with your soul. Total expenses can climb up to $12,000 USD a year.

You're right about the fees in the UK now Danny.

My BSc cost £1107 for 3 years (my year in placement was not charged...thankfully!)

And my MSc is costing me £3080 ^__^

All us students now have a student loan to pay for fees etc, my student loan for my 4 year BSc is just over £12k!!!! and £7k for my MSc.

But you think that is bad I started my degree in 2004 when the fees where £1107 per year. Students starting last year and this year pay £3100 a year with top up fees every year!!! So in the end of their degrees they will be in debt by at least £20k!!!!

Although you only pay your fees back if you earn more than £15k a year full time. The student loan company takes a percentage out of your pay packet.

If you are from a low income family though, you don't pay fees and get a non repayable grand every term!!! grrrr

wow that is very expensive education danny !!!!

Tertiary education in Singapore is ok in terms of cost if you study in colleges. If you attend polytechnic, after the government subsidy it's close to 5 grand in total for the 3 years. Not to add in costs like if you buy a laptop, or choose the overseas attachment programmes. University costs another arm and leg. But from primary (elementary) to college (high school) it can cost up to nothing, and if you're good you get government bonuses into your education accounts.

Oh wow I didn't know education in Japan is THAT overpriced lol. And seriously, those bags look bullet-proof. ~_~!

Primary school kids are more commonly seen taking public transport nowadays, so I'm guessing they think streets are much safer now. But when I was young I don't, cause my school was pretty far away from home ^^;

While the education in the US is supposed to be free, now that I'm a parent I've found that schools have nice big fees for various things that they like to pass on to the parents. This past school year was more than $300 in fees per child at my kids' school!

Wow its expensive to send kids to school not sure why I thought It'd be cheap like here in the states.

Comment bug?

Universit is still... kinda free in the UK. When you apply for your student loan, you can also apply for a loan to cover the yearly Tuition fees, which is currently capped at just over £3000 a year i think. You dont have to pay anything untill your in work and earning over a certan ammount (not sure what it is). then its all handled through the tax system, and a percenage is taken from your pay to pay off the student loan and tuition fee loan. Its a pritty good system.

Its worse for international students, university fees are massive and have to be payed up front.

Randoseru really cost a bomb. The price are really fearful~ Education here in Malaysia is on average.

Danny, the randoseru you borrowed from your neighbor seems to be in great condition, assuming that it was used for the whole 6 years of their daughters elementary. I remember back in the kindergarden days a bag would last me about 2 years, But only because one would get teased by class mates for having the same bag even though there was nothing wrong with it...lol...i found that concept a bit odd... I guess it also has to do with the material of the bag, mine was that plasticy/fabricy/thin-canvasy type, so after a while wear and tear would take its toll.

With regards to education, as Cubed2D said, education is more or less free for residents of the UK. I know students from within the E.U. have a greater fee to pay, but they can get their education fully paid for by the government. im not too sure about those outside the EU, i think they would have to get see if their government can cover the cost... I have heard of cases where the british government paid tuition fees for a high school graduate to take a UG at a Japanese University.

Japan is nice, the price is very nice too ^^;

oh man I still cant believe that bag cost a kidney, oh I better take a sip of water..

Since now I'm at University, it's average

Well public schools might be relatively cheap in Malaysia but there are many "competitive" parents who send their kids for after school tuition and stuff, or to learn some skills such as music or dancing or something. So that all adds up in the long term.

The day I have kids is the day I will have to give up figure collecting... maybe even selling off some >_<

yeah, Education is free here.
I'm studying at HAMK University Of Applied Sciences for 0€ year (except material fees) + state pays my rent and gives some living money. It's rather nice...

wow those bags are expensive. as for schooling, its sum what expensive(k-12 grade). the university levels are ridiculously expensive.

omg sending a girl to kindergarnen is as expensive as the post degree I want to do here!

well. public schools are for free, you just have to pay a minimum to get in, (to little) private schools can be really expensive and others aren't that expensive, depends on the social level.
I studied on a privated school and university . My dad paid $ 922 USD each 6 months for 5 years in my university (this university is one of the cheapest private schools and for my dad was espensive). And now I want to study a post degree and It cost me 7025 dollars. the diference talking about money is huge. I think the difference is in the amount of money that people earn here and in japan.

Education in Poland is free BUT, nothing in this world is really free right? Even if there is no tuition fee, you have to pay for your child backpack, notebooks, textbooks, crayons, pencils, pens, paints for art class, some instruments for music class, uniforms, school slippers etc etc... Even if you are a university student, your University is usually in a different town so you have to pay for living in dorm or rent a room or a flat. Some students get a student loans some work-part time to pay for it, some are able to get a scholarship but it is not enough to cover all fees...

if my memory serves me right, school fees are kept at a minimum; somewhere between 15-20 SGD.
like what my primary school teacher used to say, "you are only paying for facilities, your education is literally free!"
university fees, however cost an arm and a leg over here. Although i really shouldn't complain, since we are better off than our foreigner-coursemates, who have to fork out fees amounting to five figures....

Here in the UK all schooling is free. When you get to the age of 16 you can go to a community college and that is free up until you are 18. Then you have to pay for the courses. University here also costs about £3,000 a year on average and that is dependent on your course of choice.

I recently just left college after completely three years there. I decided to do a Foundation Degree as I know my family would not of helped me with the moving off to a university. This Foundation Degree cost about £1,125 a year, so a considerable amount lower than the typical university cost. I studied on this Foundation Degree for 10 weeks, well I say study, but it was more like 2 and a half days of *yawn*. Happy to have left there and now I'm looking for work! But in the current economical crisis it's proving difficult..

Canadian schooling is free up until high school. Post secondary is quite expensive and almost everyone take student loans.

Education from grades 1 to 12 is free here if you do not have the money to pay the basic fees- otherwise, there is a small nominal fee for supplies and books (a couple hundred a semester). I think this is a fair way of handling the expense, and ensuring that everyone has a chance to be educated. There are programs in place to assist with poorer families so that their kids have bags, clothing and lunches, as well. Private education is much more expensive, of course, and is an option.

College and University are partially subsidized, but the fees that the student pays are still pretty high. Bursaries exist for lower income students, along with scholarships (I received a couple scholarships for academic achievement, which saved me quite a bit of money going to University).

There goes my plan on getting an authentic randoseru for myself as collection.
No I didn't plan to get it just because of Kodomo no Jikan... well, only a bit of influence...

And i thought it was expensive here...

The article just made me realize, that I had the same backpack for 10years(and counting), through middle school, high school, and college. I think it was 20 USD at the time. As for education cost, my tuition for college was about 8000 USD a year(tuition hike!)... and I don't want to calculate the rest, so I will just leave it at that.

I always assumed those backpacks were full of anti-chikan (perv) weapons...

3 important things danny has taught us so far

-it costs a lot to live in japan
-it costs a lot to die in japan
-it costs a lot to get schooled in japan

it costs a lot to get schooled there but is their schooling good?and not to be insensitive or anything but how high is the suicide rate there for students?each year there are a lot of students that fall under pressure and end up jumping off the university here

Dang, I think I'd rather just pay for a $30 (US) packpack. When I was a kid they lasted about 3-4 years.

Man school is expensive. Do they have home school in Japan?

That's an insane price for a school bag and with no choice about its style either... Oh well, I'm sure the parents over there have some custom where they'll pass on their Randoseru over to someone else who needs it.

I think they still cover tuition fees for free over here right now and still offer an additional bursary to "help" with studies. Those who aren't studying away from home just spend it all on giant HDTVs and the latest gadgets of course...

So I hear a lot about how Japan is worrying about the population decline.

They might not have to worry if schools weren't so expensive. Yikes. Thats a large reason not to have a kid.

For goodness sakes, from the time I was born, to when I graduated High School, I only had about $5,000 USD saved in my college funds.

That commercial where all the kids were dressed up as bears was too cute. lol!

It's free in Estonia. Even in the university if you have good enough grades.

I attended a single sex boarding school in the US for Middle through Highschool

I never knew how much it cost until much later in life. Turned out
it was more expensive for 1 year than my first year of college!

Good Grief! D:

Schools so called free her but then we have to pay 32-40% tax, so it sucks.

Only a idiot gets in debt in the UK after going to university and then paying off student loan are a doodle.

Thats one expensive bag and blimey £600 VCR! Watching anime must have been epxensive back in the 90's.

I see primary kids on the train on the own but its really a rarity, if i had kids i would'nt put them on public transport.

It depends on what type of school you go to here. However, college is not free of course. And those backpacks look interesting...

If school had cost that much here, i wouldn't have been able to go...

Back here in the UK you only have to pay for University if you are going to one in England. Since I'm in Scotland I get to go to Uni for free, thanks to my fees being government payed. If you are an international student it would cost a bomb to study here though.

Wow. remind me never to have kids in Japan. *_*

It's no wonder the reproduction rates are so low.

Interesting, I've always wondered about these. I never got to see one up close before.

School is free here up through High School. University is very expensive here. Some schools cost in one year what the 4 year cost listed in your article states. U.S. schools (University) Are considered by many to be superior to their European and Asian counterparts, but even the best schools can not help students who are not willing to apply themselves.

Japanese families should try ebay for their Randoseru. I found these on the site for as low as $50 U.S.

They are some expensive bags.... look cool, but heck, the price.... Backpacks in the UK are soooo much cheaper, thank goodness lol. Not made like that though, not as cool.

Wow those are getting expensive! lol xD

I got a hand-me down randoseru when i went to school in Japan it was really nice and at my grandparents' house right now :3

Germany had similar bags back when I was in grade 1. They were square though, and quite solid as well (we used to use them as chairs)

Here in Brazil if you wanna give good education for your children you have to send them to private schools, wich are very expensive.

There are very good public universities here, but the test to get in there is very hard, and mainly private schooled students get in there, wich is very unfair.

The main problem here in Brazil is the education. But since not-educated people give less trouble to the government, I don't see this situation changing any time soon...

Wow, I didn't realize that you had to pay for school in a rich country like Japan! All school but university/college is free here. And even then, college costs $3000-$6000 a year generally, but I do know university can cost quite a bit more, but $50,000 sounds pretty excessive.

damn, i had no idea elementary school was such a financial burden! maybe i'd pay that price for a backpack that lasted through highschool, but just elementary school?! i vote for reducing randosel and dakimakura prices to reasonable levels :P

Beeccckkkyy !!!! I loved her on an episode of Cartoon Kat-tun, her phone, and she herself is hilarious.

Cute bags. I remember my barbie school bag with my sailor moon lunchbox. Good times, good times.

Education here is free up through high school, College or university you are on your own. I was lucky enough to get parents to pay for mine

I bought a $100 backpack when I started highschool. It survived all 4 years, but somehow I feel that a $5 backpack would've done the same thing.

Japanese girls look cute carrying randoseru ^3^

Hey Danny, thanks for the article. I always wanted to know more about these backpacks.

Wow... didn't know they were this expensive...

I read somewhere that they are also made this way to be easily identifiable... as a way to protect the children.

But reading about it's weight, no wonder lots of japanese kids, teens and people in general have back problems.

I had my share of back problems due to carrying too much weight on backpacks...

Anyways, interesting article Danny!

I always want a randoseru, because i thought it's cute. I love it since young due to Chibi Maru-ko. XD

damm! those backpacks cost almost the same as an average laptop. Education here is "free" they charge you a small installment in public schools, and the private counterpart can cost you an arm.

This article is very informative for comrades who are parents or planning to raise their kids in Japan.

Wow, leather-made school bag for kids, no wonder it cost a bomb. Such fine handmade leather bag for kids in kindergarden/elementary school~~~~~

I almost caught up with your joke of buying one which Rin did have her red randoseru ^^

All government school here are free.

I attended private boarding school for my elementary through high school.

I swear I will never complain about expensive education in my country ever again -_-". But seriously that primary school bag is so expensive that I can buy a branded sling bag. Btw does the Japanese government subsidize educational fees for their citizens? If not its a pretty heavy load on the parents. The bag and the educational fee etc. -_-;

Ha,ha I always wondered why Gundam Backpacks were called Randsels, now I know why..

http://www.dalong.net/review/mg/m64/p/m64_box2.jpg
My school bags never even exceeded the $25 mark

Anyways, those are eye popping tuition fees! I spent my elementary and High school days in a private school, but I think the most expensive tuition my parents had to pay for was only around
$600, and that was during my 4th year in High school (We have 4 years of HS here).

Right now, I'm studying in a public university, the tuition is cheap around $30, but you really have to work your butt off so that you'll always reach the quota. Once your grades fall below the required GPA then you are kapoot, thrown out of the school. I'm lucky that our school is rather okay and presentable, the facilities are okey and the cafeteria food is good. And I only need 1 bus ride to reach my Gundam haven (Greenhills XD)

Anyways, the way I see it many public schools (especially elementary and high school) here face a lot of problems, mainly due to the blunders of the local government. Resources are scarce and class rooms even lack windows. And I can also say that discrimination is quite rampant (the higher section receives copies of the school journals, while the lower ones don't), you'll know what I mean when you get to observe in such a school for a whole semester. It's no wonder that some children here in the Philippines, especially in Manila don't have much motivation to study, I really feel sorry for them...

wah its so expensive for a back pack o__o
thank god australia schools dont use these..

I knew that Japanese universities are very expensive but the whole school life is a financial tsunami! And uni students are fighting here against 500 €/semester.^^;

wow, the bag costs that much but it looks very sturdy. While looking at it I thought of my elementary school days, I also have to carry about 10kg worth of books. During high school, the weight reduced to 5-7kg, but I have to run for about 1-2km to reach my high school(I don't have a bike).

As for commuting to school, most parents prefer to send their children to school or to take the bus. Only about 0.1% of the students in my school walk to and fro by foot or bicycle.

Damn thats expensive O.o
School here is free, but from high school and up you have to buy your own books.
Well, at least for public school, private can get pretty nasty here to.

Holy Smokes!! Such an expensive backpack for elementary school?!?!?!

The Japanese really don't mind splurging money. Like on branded goods too.

Seems kinda cool though. Would like to have 1 of those randoseru.

Education in Singapore is cheap. Think cause the subsidies are very generous and education is placed in high priority in the government budget together with defense.

i.e. My Uni tuition fees are SGD 16,000+ per semester, but the Ministry of Education subsidises SGD 13,000+ just because I'm a Singaporean. No bond whatsoever.

*lying, limbless on the ground, next to a pile of money, with a sign poking out of it, saying "For Katsus' child"*

This will be the sight in my and my wifes' bedroom, with the day our child turned 8 >.<
I don't get it, why education in Japan is so expensive? And what's the deal with the backpack?! Maybe it has a prototype jetpack inside it?? Since the price is so high and there's a NASA sticker on it...

Hmmm that`s interesting, being a Dutch guy I haven`t heard of the word "ransel" ever before.
A backpack is called "Rugzak" in Dutch.
Tough seeing as to how far randoseru go back in history tough, I can imagine that the word in Dutch for backpack could have easily been "Ransel" back then :-)

Cool bags, but sure overpriced ^^;

School here is supposedly free, but in fact people have to pay around 1100 ILS (about 270 USD) every year in order to cover for outside school activities, using the school library etc.

To answer your other question: When I was in Germany, I started taking buses and trains alone when I was 6. But I'm pretty sure I was an exception.

Well, public schools here aren't technically free--the money comes out of property taxes. Still, that means childless landowners help pay for it. ^_^ This applies to all public K through 12 schools. Private ones get scary price-wise, though.

All colleges do make you pay tuition though, even the public ones. However, the public ones are way more affordable than the private ones, and are eligible for more scholarships and tuition waivers.

Knew you were going to have a Kodomo no Jikan reference the moment I saw this topic. But woah are they expensive...

Public school in Australia is relatively inexpensive, but private schools cost an arm and a leg. For University though if you are a citizen you can defer you fees until after you finish your course and find your self a job. Once you earn over a certain amount a year they take a percentage of what you earn to pay off your debt.

Ya learn something new every day ...
and 50,000+￥? Over here we call that a daylight robbery...

In France iirc high school is almost free, and i pay 450e/year for university, some bigger university are much more expensive tho

those bags are so expensives

I'm glad bags like these weren't required when I was small. I don't think my parents would have liked the idea that they could buy so many other things instead with that bag money.

Wow,.. Randoseru, eh?? Well, for being basicly a backpack for school they are very expensive, dont you think?? Tehy look very durable though..

The back pack is way too expensive....
Public Schools in my country is free,
you even can get free text books,
but the standard of teaching wont be as good as private school....

fiouu We love japan but I thinks here, we are happy to bye normal school bag... or just our parents ^^
I've got my account !!! *0*

The bags are super expensive.. 57750 Yen.. How many nendoroids can be bought with that much money..

Wow. Can't believe public schooling is so expensive. Great article.

Wow, those prices for a backpack seriously...

public education here is pretty cheap, in essence its free, covered by our high tax rates. But schools and the school systems add on fees here and there, and you end up paying on average $250 -$300 a year to send a kid to school, more if your kid joins stuff like band.

Post secondary here at the university level while subsidized by governtment, it still costs a lot...
I just finished paying $3000Cdn last week just for 5 courses. Not to mention the $300 I spend on just 2 textbooks

public school is free. and private school depends on which one you go to. the most expensive one here i think its around 8000 bucks cdn a year for grade 1 and prices go up when your grade is higher.

university is a rip off here. around 10000 bucks a year.

Randoseru.. Better in 2D.

That Rin figure awakened some bad memories of the last anime convention I was at.

People keep buying the figures I want right in front of my nose, and they always are the last ones, too.

Education in Poladn... hmm

exept
-books
-penicls
-pens
-notebooks
-backpacks
-uniforms (in some schools)
-school donations (they say its up to you to pay... but if you dont they nag you until u just pay for them to shut up XD)

Summing everything up we get about or over (dunno how much for uniforms) 700 PLN which is about 250 USD per year (sometimes more if you need to buy new books due to their short material in)

And yeah... exept everything above ... its Free...

Ouch! over USD$ 600?? They're just crazy!

Wow, school fees are really crazy, wouldn't want to study over there. Still laden with debt aft my education here. sigh

Way back in school, I used to carry big backpacks too. Even bigger than these. I needed trolleys. :p

Education is expensive... >.<"

Education here in the uk is free when your age is below 19. but you now have to pay for uni whick i'v heard is a lot.

If you stick to public education, it's 'free' over here (excluding inscription fees, minor collaboration/donations, materials and the like), even University...

HOLY MOTHER******
that is an adsurb cost of education @_@

hell, my highschool cost 130.000 yen per year
just what kind of wage do japanese get for a month?

I know that education can rack up some hefty sums anywhere in the world, but for Japan, if home-schooling ever takes root there, they're going to be closing down schools en masse. That is, provided home schooling doesn't get even more expensive.

The Randoseru makes a great but impromtu club when properly filled, though. XD

Schooling is extremely expensive here. Actually you have choices of state schools or private universities. Problem being is most state schools do not offer many science and engineering degrees so you must go private where it will set you back around $120,000 US for the 4 years. Terrible system which needs reform, Education should not have to cost you a life savings.

nice bag

My Education expenses for the year at University
-$6,000 year tuition (Very good cost for my Uni)
I don't live on campus... but commuting is about
-$1,300 year
Books...
-$1,000

So in 4 years thats about $35,000...
Compared to my friend's Tuition + Living expenses which would be $500,000-$700,000 for 4 yearsxD Its ridiculous.

Never had to pay anything for Kindergarden-12 though... besides pens and pencils o.o

Well, while in Malaysia It cost only about RM40++ for school fees which = 10,000yen a years....(books not included) but it's cheap cause we can all borrow the books from government.

wow, and here i thought buying a new backpack every 3-4 years was expensive as backpacks go....whew.

Ransel is actually an other word in the Netherlands for backpack, but we use 'rugzak' a lot more.

i wonder how much a gucci or prada Randoseru would cost if they made them?
i have a few backpacks, one for putting boarding junk in, one for lab, one for random stuff...one for each day of the week, jkjk

Those look like some luxury branded Randoseru.
Pretty well-made stuff.

Wonder how a cheaper non-branded version look like.

Considering the simplicity of the design of a randoseru, it's amazing how much these things cost. I remember spending 15 dollars on my school bag, I know, a few years ago, but still, even that was considered expensive.

へえぇ、すごく高すぎるんだよ！
certainly, Rin looks cute with a randoseru, but, hell don't they realize how expensive -and for nothing- they are? or every children in japan buys one of them and nobody complains?, is that.... 500u$s for a backpack, is ridiculous.
I hope that if someone buys a cheaper one, at least the boy isn't bullied, that would suck.

Here you have free education in all levels, public elementary, secondary and universities are by law free for all. You have private education of course, but it usually cost around 50u$s/month all 12 mandatory basic edocutation years, and private universities you have from 100u$s to 400u$s/month normally. But you have to add all materials, food, transport. It isn't really expensive the basic education, but universities can be.

Wow Randoresu made by NASA? I guess it's for the kids who want to become astronauts^^;...

It's strange, I'm Dutch but I have never heard of the word 'Ransel'. Must be a real old word or something, I always say 'Rugzak'... ^^;

Man.. Japanese school tuition's are the bomb! I guess we have to discuss our future with my girlfriend(distance for now, but after I graduate, I was thinking of going to work in Japan) Finland's free all the way from kindergarden to high school and university's fee is really nominal. Only like 90 euros for a year (bit over 1万円) Besides the students are even paid to study, not much, but I can pay the rent (at the student village), the food with and even some personal things. Completely opposite from the Japan. Besides, we don't have any recommendations for school uniforms, backpacks and such either so that reduces it from other levels too. Long Live Finland. ノ(;¤_¤)ノ

Hm...here in NYC it's very unsafe for any young child to walk alone to school. Maybe if the school is very close or if the children are a bit older. I remember seeing young elementary school children (with the yellow randoseru^^ ) walking at night in the alleys in Japan and was shocked. ^^ Then again, Japan is very safe.

Education here in NYC is free from Kindergarten to High school. Private school are expensive though costing thousands of dollars a year. College is not free. >< It can be a few thousands of dollars per year to around $40,000 a year. ><

WOW Thats all I really have to say!

I remember we had school supplies when I was younger but never a 500 dollar back pack. Of course the up side is the grandparent only had to buy it once. Makes me glad my school was free. University costs an arm and a leg though.

omg...thats crazy!!

Public School here is free.
Magnet schools cost a bit since their is requirements and private schools can be very expensive depending how good it is.

Hmm..wonder how stylish it is if an adult carries it around. haha.

The cost of the randoseru doesn't bother me at all. I knew they were expensive and if I had a kid I'd have no problem shelling out the cash for it. What DOES knock me off my chair is the cost of schooling in Japan. It costs a mega-bomb! What's worse is that I worked in the Japanese public school system for TWO YEARS and had no idea it wasn't free! TWO YEARS and all I knew was that parents sent money to the school for school lunches! @___@ If I had known that parents had to pay for their child's schooling I would have donated to help the poorer kids out in my town. SHEESH!