Samurai Spirit in a Backpack: The Ultimate Japanese Leather Gift for the Holidays

Christmas is coming up fast, and if you’re hunting for the ultimate gift for yours truly, look no further than Murase Kabano’s randoseru samurai backpack. It’s a Japanese leather masterpiece, handcrafted and entered into this year’s Japan Leather Awards, where it bagged the artistic design award. This beauty’s running for a cool 500,000 yen—roughly USD 3,300. But hey, you can swing that, right?

Randoseru backpacks are usually kid stuff in Japan, built tough enough to last a lifetime. But leather artisan Noriki Okada decided to flip the script. Instead of standard fare, he took scrap leather—cast-offs from other production work—and crafted a randoseru that’s as sustainably-minded as it is badass. The style? Pure samurai.

Okada, hailing from Nagoya’s Murase Kabano, wanted a design that makes kids feel like little warriors. He layered leather to recreate the battle-ready look of samurai armor. And as a specialist in back flaps, he wasn’t playing around—these pieces have the imposing faces of oni demons, classic armor from Japan’s warring past. The colors? Bold blacks, blood reds, and rich browns—shades worn by samurai back in the day.