Japan high school girls have best scoop on m4/3 future

Henry Richardson wrote:

They are called randoseru and are quite expensive. Generally $300-600 depending on exactly which one is chosen. They used to all be black and red, but these days they come in all colors and there are even designer brands that can cost even more. The kids use them usually for many years. They are ubiquitous in Japan.

Here is some info on randoseru in Japan:

https://japanobjects.com/features/randoseru

The first incarnation of the randoseru bag was a backpack for soldiers. During the Edo period (1603-1868), the Shogunate government was influenced by the western-style military system of the Netherlands which is where the inspiration for the bag came. The name randoseru comes from the old Dutch term for backpack: ransel or rantsel.

When I was a kid in elementary school in the 1960s in the U.S. we didn't have anything like this. Kids just carried books in their hands. We could leave most of our stuff in our school desks though so we weren't carrying so much home everyday except what was needed for homework. These days kids in the States often have regular, thin, nylon backpacks. Not nearly as good or nice as what they have here in Japan or what you guys have been describing and showing in Europe.

I was in a shopping mall today and walked by a store that sells randoseru.  I didn't go inside, but I stopped and took a photo of these that were at the entrance.  These are quite expensive.  With the current 10% off sale price they are about $694, but the regular price is about $775.  I am not sure if this price includes the 10% sales tax.