"This is the first time I've seen such a sudden increase in price. I'm sorry." This is



the words of the store president who had no choice but to raise the price of uniforms last year.


With the impact of high prices on the parents of children entering the graduation and school entrance season, the options that are attracting attention are "reuse" of uniforms and "subscription" where you can choose your favorite randoseru for a fixed price. "is.

School uniform prices continue to rise

School uniforms have continued to rise in price over the last ten years.



According to calculations based on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' "Retail Price Statistics Survey," the average price of school uniforms in all prefectures nationwide was as follows as of January 2013, 10 years ago.


▽ Men's 30,407 yen


▽ Women's 29,055 yen



After that, the price continued to rise, and as of January this year, ▽

Men


's 36,976 yen +21.6% compared to 10 years ago


5,774 yen +23.1% compared to 10 years ago



The price for both men and women has increased by more than 20% over the past 10 years.

A store specializing in uniforms "I feel sorry that I have to raise the price"

There are five stores nationwide that specialize in school uniforms, and they carry about 100,000 items such as blazers, skirts, and cardigans.



According to the store, raw material costs and transportation costs have soared due to the effects of the new corona, the weak yen, and the military invasion by Russia, and the price of wool fabric used for one blazer has increased by about 700 yen over the past three years. , The price per container used for import also increased by about 150,000 yen.



The store has continued to reduce costs by reviewing overseas production bases, but it could not be covered by corporate efforts alone, and since September last year, the selling price of some products has been raised by about 5% to 15%. is.

A mother who visited the store to buy a uniform for her daughter said, "I heard that the electricity rate will go up from early spring, so I'm a little scared. I think it's okay if it's a little expensive because what the person likes is the most important thing." was

Takayuki Aiura, the president of the uniform store, said, "This is the first time that the price has been raised so suddenly. I wanted to deliver at a reasonable price as much as possible, but it's a pity that the price has to be raised. I feel sorry. I would like to make an effort to reduce the cost of production."

About 2000 items are sold at the “reuse” store

As the price of school uniforms rises, "reuse" is attracting attention from the perspective of SDGs.



A reuse store in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, sells about 2,000 items such as uniforms and gym clothes purchased from junior high school and high school graduates in the city.



After buying it, fraying is fixed and cleaning is done, so in the case of uniforms, the price is reduced to about 1/3 to 50% of the price of new. are sold at



According to the store, compared to the same period last year, the number of visitors has increased by 1.7 times, and sales have increased by about 2 times.

A mother in her 40s who visited with her third-year junior high school daughter said, "I have eight siblings, so it's very helpful. Due to the corona crisis, the number of days I went to school was less than before, and I had to go to school in my jersey more days. When I heard it, I felt that there were many beautiful products," he said.



Her daughter said, "It's beautiful even if it's not new, and I don't mind if it's a reused item. I think it's better to recycle uniforms that aren't used much due to the corona crisis."

Rumi Ishigaki, who runs the store, said, "From my own experience raising children, I thought there was a need for a system that would reduce the cost of school life as much as possible. People were surprised at the high price of new items, so they considered reusing items. I think one of the reasons why the number of customers is increasing is that the cost of school uniforms is rising while the cost of education is rising."

Randoseru "Subscription"

Randoseru continues to rise in price.



According to a questionnaire conducted by the Japan Bag Association School Bag Industry Association, which is made by bag manufacturers, the average purchase price for children who entered school in April 2019 four years ago was 52,300 yen, but last year, April 2022 The average purchase price for children who enrolled in the month was 56,425 yen.



Under these circumstances, the so-called "subscription" that allows you to choose your favorite randoseru for a fixed price is becoming a hot topic on social media.



On SNS, there was an opinion that "it is important to teach people how to use them carefully for a long time", but there was also an opinion that "favorite colors change, and it might be good because you don't use them when you reach higher grades".

At a randsel maker in Osaka that started this service, you can choose from 50 to 250 types of randsel for 990 yen to 3850 yen depending on the plan for a monthly contract.



Once every one to three months, you can exchange it for a different school bag, and if you like it during use, you can buy it as it is. about it.



We also accept orders from all over the country by mail, and since February 15, when we started the service, we have received about 200 applications in about two weeks, and about 60% of them are new first graders. It means that some users choose it as a randoseru.

Rie Shoyama, managing director of a randoseru maker, said, "With a subscription, you can choose the randoseru you like best at that time according to the environment, such as the growth and preferences of your child, so I hope it will be one of the options when purchasing." was talking