Japan has been a little bemused to find that a long-running family-favorite TV show, known here as "Hajimete no Otsukai" ("My First Errand"), has suddenly achieved international fame on Netflix as "Old Enough."
The program, which features preschoolers running errands by themselves, has triggered worldwide debate about parenting standards. One article in the U.K. blasted the reality TV show as "bizarre,” quoting a child psychologist who described it as "exploitative and dangerous.” NPR felt compelled to warn parents not to let their offspring emulate kids on the show lest they run foul of local laws.
The Japanese are tickled that the heavily scripted show, which has aired here for three decades, is seen as "dangerous.” After all, this is a country where children frequently ride trains solo to get to elementary school, squeezing in among the salarymen at rush hour.