There is a certain fascination that people have with the Japanese art of the samurai, whether it’s through movies, books, anime, and even just the accessories in general. Combining it with other Japanese cultural things will appeal to a certain market, even if those things may just be decorative and not totally functional.
Designer: Noriki Okada
Randoseru are leather backpacks used by Japanese school children that are made to last for years. But this particular version of the backpack is probably not something you’d let your kid use or even you yourself would use. It is hand-crafted and intricately designed, inspired by the samurai tradition. The yellow, black, and red backpack would have looked right at home in the 11th century, if there were expensive, leather bags back then.
Leather craftsman Noriki Okada created this bag from scrap pieces from other bags and have some accents like small leather plates and brass rivets. There are even faces of oni demons on the sides to add to the samurai theme. The manufacturer, Murase Kabanko, says that they are recommending that you just use this for “decorative purposes” although you can of course use it if you don’t mind carrying something that looks heavy and ornate.
Each bag that they are selling is handmade so you would have to wait around 6 months for it to get to you. And of course it’s expensive given all that. If you have around $3,300 and are a collector of samurai inspired things, go for it.
