LIVING IN JAPAN

Adorable little girl shopping in Bangladesh. (sumanamul15. Pixabay. No attribution required.)

Perhaps you have been charmed, like me, by Netflix‘s recent show, “Old Enough,” called “My First Errand” in Japanese, a show already popular for 30 years in Japan.

Although clearly staged, with its not-so-hidden cameramen, I think it speaks to the inherent honesty and collectivist culture of the Japanese that such a show has even been made.

Children in Japan are taught from a young age that after looking both ways before crossing the street, they are to raise their hand high in the air to make themselves more visible to cars. Once the children cross, they turn and respectfully bow in thanks to the drivers who waited for them.

It’s not at all unusual to send a young child to the store to buy something while the mother is busy at home. There was a time when we could send kids to the corner store to buy beer for the adults, but those days are gone now.

I had little kids once, too.

When my children were growing up in Japan, they, like everyone else, had to walk to elementary school and junior high school. Walking to school carrying all the books they need for their classes that day is required, and it is considered an important step in growing up and becoming independent.

Little ones look forward with excitement to their first day of elementary school. They may get a new school uniform, or at least a new suit to wear to the entrance ceremony where parents come dressed to the nines.

A formal ceremony is held to mark this milestone in a family’s life, starting with a procession into the gymnasium packed with neatly lined-up chairs, followed by the singing of the school song, speeches from the principal and vice-principal, and well-practiced welcoming speeches from older students.

Great emphasis is placed on the serious responsibility of becoming a first grader, getting your own shiny new regulation backpack, and walking with your friends to school. There’s even a 1966 song about becoming a first grader which, I dare to say, every single person in Japan knows. Here is an entertaining and quintessential Japanese version. Be forewarned — it is catchy.

Lyrics to the First Grader Song, Ichinensei ni Nattara, translated by me.

If my children are any example, kids like to get to school early so they can play with their friends in the schoolyard. This is completely without adult supervision, just as is their recess after lunch. You can believe that the lack of supervision during playtime caused this American mother no small bit of anxiety when I first saw it.

It took several years for me to understand and accept that particular cultural difference.

The collectivist culture of Japan

Little girl talking to Pepper, the friendly robot found all over Japan. (Andy Kelly. Unsplash.)

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It used to be a given that other adults will correct any children, and perhaps it still is in some rural areas.

When one of my sons was getting into mischief with his friends on their way home from school, an old man slowed down and shouted out his car window, “Hey you boys! Cut it out!”

Of course, they stopped and bowed to the man in recognition.

Pretty standard behavior.

Students up to high school age are well-aware that if they are spotted walking to and from school breaking rules, anyone at all who sees them might report them to their school.

Here are just a few of the many school rules:

• Uniforms must be properly worn while walking to and from school. No untucked shirts or loosened ties.
• Children must walk directly to and from school. No stopping at stores, parks, or friends’ houses.
• No going to game centers — ever.
• At the start of each school year in April, among the myriad forms parents fill out is one that contains a space for the parents to draw a map to show the route their child will take to and from school. The children should not veer from that course.
• No elementary children are allowed outside after 5:30 pm.
• High school students may not get part-time jobs or scooter licenses without first proving they are necessary and receiving written permission from four different school authorities. No one gets a driver’s license before age 18 in Japan.

With the paternalistic nature of schools, innumerable societal rules, and the collectivist nature of Japanese society, it is not really such a stretch to see little ones walking to the store to buy things for their mothers.