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.