“Old Enough” on Netflix. How common is it for Japanese to send kids on first errands?

29 comments

1. It’s definitely not unusual to see scores of elementary school-aged kids going to and from school as well as just running around the neighborhood being kids.

2. I see young kids going by themselves to and from school (and possibly extracurriculars). Almost every unaccompanied child has a schoolbag.

   I have never personally noticed a kid, not even an older one, buying produce from a vendor or groceries at a supermarket by themselves or anything like that. Not saying it never happens but in 7 years (3 in the countryside, 4 in a city) I have never witnessed it.

3. As another one said, it’s a TV show. Though japan is extremely safe, no 3 years old is out alone in the street.

   A bit older like elementary school student, perhaps, but not 3 years old.

4. My husband said he had this experience when he was a kid. Sent out for cabbage and came back with lettuce…

5. Elementary school (so 5-6 years old) is super common to have kids alone, if not the general rule (most schools will have morning groups where kids are supposed to pick up other kids along the way to walk together to/from school).

   Before that, much rarer.

6. Depends on the place in Japan. Inaka is pretty common and inner shinjuku probably not common.

7. I grew up in Finland and went to many places at similar age like in the show

8. [deleted]

9. Pretty common in more rural areas. Not so much in big cities.

10. That’s reality TV. It’s not reality. They mostly just walk to school. I can’t say it’s significantly different from where I grew up

11. The show intentionally shows extremes. You can tell by watching it that even the parents consider it a bit of an anomaly.

    Yet there is quite a bit of freedom to play independently or travel to and from familiar locations.

    Many young children travel, even on the train, unaccompanied in Japan once they’ve been taught certain routes.

    Even later in the day, usually for after school activities or cram schools.

12. We sent each of our kids on their first errand a month or so before elementary school started. It was part of getting them used to their neighborhood and surroundings and so on.

13. If you watch that show you will notice a TON of staff poorly disguised in the back ground. People dressed up in drab clothing with walkie talkies, people carrying tackle boxes and other boxes with cameras in them. They probably have like 10-20 people creating a net around the children to make sure they don’t get hurt or into too much trouble. Also, a lot of the local people on the streets are watching the child on it’s mission.

    Sending children out alone like this is NOT common.

    Kids do go to school in small groups or alone by public transport (train, bus) and most kids walk to school in groups with PTA members / teachers along their routes at busy intersections.

    The funny thing to me is many people who grew up in the US in the 80s and early were given lots of free range to run around the neighborhoods, go to shops, etc. when they were younger.

    By the time I was 10 I was regularly riding my bicycle 2-3 miles from home. My parents probably wouldn’t have been thrilled with that knowledge but according to my aunts and uncles they got into even more hijinks as kids than I did. It was totally normal and safe to see kids out and about on their own from around 10-11 years old.

    Now it seems like any kid unattended in the states for 5 min. is considered child abuse and the parents should be locked up. I just can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t think the US is that much more dangerous than it was when I was a kid.

14. There’s a one off local bakery near me that has tiny doughnuts and other baked goods for 10 yen. I always thought “What’s the point?’

    One day I went in and there were 3 kindergarten kids with mini trays and tongs looking over the 10 yen section. It was adorable!

    But yeah, like others have said, it’s rare.

15. I send my kids 8 year old to get milk all the time. Although I live in suburban area.

    The TV shows are extreme IMO, not one send a 3 year old on errands.

16. I remember my mom sent me to buy bread and the guy ask me salt or sugar bread. I start crying and went back home running. 😂

    This show is awesome btw

17. Nobody sends them out when they’re like 2 or 3 like they do on the show, but by the time they’re 6 and start Grade 1, they’re often going to school alone anyway, so might get sent on an errand as well depending on the neighbourhood.

18. I see 5 year old kids riding the metro alone in downtown Tokyo.

19. It’s the Truman Show.

20. One day I saw the clerk at the local grocery store helping a kindergartner read their grocery list.

    I’ve only ever seen it once, but it definitely happens.

21. Errands like in the show? Not so common.

    Going to school/juku, sometimes.

    For 1st graders, they are usually in groups with an older student (usually 6th grader) acting and guide/lead and they go to school together.

22. When my wife was a kid she had to go and buy cigs for her parents from the vending machine down the street. It was really common to see this up until the vending machines started requiring ID to purchase.

23. I started sending my eldest at 5yo to the conbini to get something (it’s 2 minutes away). Now she’s 6 and walks to school alone (4-5 mins away) though there are adults with a high vis who make sure the kids cross the road at the traffic lights.
    Japan’s safe, and it’s normal.
    But on that tv show, they send them to get more than one normally would. You wouldn’t tell a 3yo to get 4 things off a grocery list. It’s just a tv show and there’s a ton of staff and camera crew on standby.

24. My best friend’s kindergartner takes the metro to school (22 mins ~~round trip~~ one-way) by himself. Shibuya, Tokyo.

25. I know kindergarteners will take the train to school by themselves.

26. I would say pretty common as all my Japanese friends here had to go out on a first errand by themselves. Obviously the show tends to lean in the more extreme situations. An episode was shot right near my apartment once. I could tell because there were the guys carrying tool boxes with cameras inside and a little kid walking beside them lol. Sadly, I did not make it into the final edit

27. It’s just a thing that parents make young kids do just to get used to the world not really for practical purposes. Btw I started going to school by myself when I was 6 and it was a 1 hour journey on bus and 2 or 3 trains

28. I am a Japanese born and living in Japan. I don’t think it is uncommon in Japan. Of course, it depends on where you live.
    When I was a child, my parents told me to go to Otsukai. I bought milk. In Japan, it is not unusual for children to go out alone.
    When I was in kindergarten (3-5 years old), I played in the park every day with my friends and other children.
    In elementary school (ages 6-12), it was normal for children to go to school alone, and every day they played outside with friends until the sun went down. Going out with friends to buy snacks and stationery was also normal.
    In junior high school (ages 13-15), I sometimes came home late at night and rode my bicycle to cram school. Now that I am an adult, I sometimes go to convenience stores alone late at night. Japan is peaceful today.

    However, the environment may be different in a city like Tokyo. Furthermore, parents these days are overprotective and may tend to ruin their children’s potential.

29. It’s universal. One hundred percent of kids get sent on their first errand. Sometimes it’s very young like this show, sometimes it’s years later, but everybody goes on an errand at some point in their life