How Trader Joe's tote bags became an unexpected style symbol in Japan

How Trader Joe's tote bags became an unexpected style symbol in Japan Getty Images While US shoppers consider Trader Joe's totes a functional albeit plain grocery bag, Japanese fashionistas carry the totes for their status – and "American casual" style. "Amerikajin" fashion, or America-core, in Japan, includes anything from Harley Davidson merch to Harvard University sweatshirts, but the ultimate status symbol is the heavy duck Trader Joe’s tote. The grocer's Vice President of Marketing Matt Sloan and Marketing Director Tara Miller discussed the brouhaha on a recent episode of the "Inside Trader Joe's" podcast and revealed that the company had printed hundreds of thousands of mini tote bags, anticipating they’d last for weeks or even months, but all of which flew off the shelves within a week. Yamada says that while American entertainment majorly factors into the trend, sporting the tote also shows people that you may have studied abroad in America or lived in America, and that because Trader Joe's is popular among US college students likely due to the grocer's reasonable pricing and easy-to-make or ready meals, it became popular among fashionistas wanting to give off American academic vibes.