Japanese Bags

A Japanese bag is a shape with a name and a job. The randoseru is the stiff-sided leather backpack every Japanese child carries for six years of primary school. The knot bag closes by pulling one handle through the other and needs no clasp. The gamaguchi is the kiss-lock purse that snaps shut like a toad's mouth, which is what the word means. Five bags here, each one of those shapes or close to it: the randoseru, a boston school bag, a knot bag in eight prints, a gamaguchi purse with a plush lucky cat on the front, and a yellow star backpack that is the kawaii one.

The randoseru and the school bag

The randoseru is the most recognisable bag in Japan: a boxy backpack with stiff sides, a long front flap that closes on a metal plate, padded straps, and a reflective strip on the back, made to hold textbooks flat and to survive six years of a child. It was modelled on a Dutch army pack in the nineteenth century, the name is the Dutch word for backpack, and it has become a fashion object for adults in Tokyo and in Paris. Ours is a smooth moulded synthetic in black, blue, red or pink. The boston school bag beside it is the secondary-school version: a structured bag in black synthetic leather with two top handles, a front pocket, a full-length zip and D-rings for a strap, the one carried with a sailor uniform or a gakuran.

The knot bag, the gamaguchi and the star

The knot bag is a small handbag in a Japanese printed cloth with two handles of unequal length; the long one passes through the short one and the bag closes and hangs from the wrist. It is a furoshiki with the handles sewn in, and it comes in eight prints. The gamaguchi is a small clasp purse in a printed crepe cloth on a metal kiss-lock frame, with a plush beckoning cat sewn on the front and a small charm on the clasp, in eight colours; it holds coins, a card and a key. The star backpack is a small bag in smooth yellow synthetic cut as a five-pointed star with two black eyes and a zip round the edge, for a child or for a person who wants to carry a star.

How they are carried

The randoseru on both shoulders, high on the back, the flap facing out, with a plain coat or a kimono jacket over a tee; it is the bag that reads as Tokyo from across the street. The boston bag by the handles or on a strap, with the uniform. The knot bag from the wrist, with a yukata to a festival or with a dress to dinner; it holds a phone, a wallet and a folding fan. The gamaguchi in a pocket or the bottom of a larger bag, where the cat gets found every time.

Care

Wipe the synthetic bags with a damp cloth; brush the cloth ones and spot-clean; keep the randoseru's flap closed when stored so the plate stays flat. Made to Japanese designs in Asia, in synthetic leather or printed cloth as stated on each page.

Japanese bags: the questions we are asked

What is a randoseru?

The stiff-sided leather-look backpack Japanese children carry through primary school. Boxy, with a long flap, padded straps and a reflective back. Adults wear it now too.

Is the randoseru real leather?

A smooth moulded synthetic, which is what most Japanese randoseru are now made of. Each page says so.

How does the knot bag close?

The long handle passes through the short one and the bag hangs closed from the wrist. No clasp, no zip.

What does gamaguchi mean?

Toad's mouth: the kiss-lock frame opens wide and snaps shut like one.