First Japan's toilet seats made a splash, then their rice cookers were all the rage.
Now Chinese are paying a premium for Japanese schoolbags already priced around 5,000 yuan ($782).
Carried by generations of Japanese primary school students, the square-shaped "randoseru" has been attracting Chinese buyers for both its durability and safety features.
The all-leather bag is also reinforced with a steel plate to protect children in case of earthquakes, and is also capable of serving as a flotation device in water.
As the new school year approaches, reporters found Chinese parents are willing to fork out high prices for the bags.
A woman surnamed Wang who traveled Japan this summer described malls full of Chinese shopping for the item.
"Some even purchased two to three bags at once," she said.
The bag-buying frenzy has prompted some Chinese living in Japan to chime in.
A woman surnamed Liang, the mother of a primary school student in Japan, said that at 1.5 kilograms, the bag is too heavy for children.
"The bag doesn't hold that much, there's only room for a few books and a pencil case. They'd need to carry all their other books," she said.
Some on social media felt the bags are not designed for Chinese students.
"They don't need to wear a steel plate to school every day because earthquakes are rare in China," posted a Sina Weibo user from Shanghai.
"The bag cannot hold the weight of Chinese textbooks at all," another online user from Guangzhou wrote.
