Television

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Old Enough: the Japanese TV show that abandons

toddlers on public transport
This Japanese phenomenon – now airing on Netflix – sends
children as young as two out into the world alone. It’s an
absolute rollercoaster of emotions

Stuart Heritage
@stuheritage
Thu 7 Apr 2022 10.13 EDT

I
f you have looked at Netflix over the past few days, there is an overwhelming
chance that you will have been bashed over the head by a weird-looking
Japanese documentary. No matter what your viewing history is – whether you
prefer Bridgerton or Stranger Things, Breaking Bad or second world war
documentaries – there it is. Floating in multicoloured bubble letters, devoid of any
context whatsoever, is the title Old Enough. Which begs the question: what the hell
is Old Enough?

Unfortunately, the initial explanation is even more confusing than Netflix’s

aggressive push. Old Enough is the wildly popular Japanese show Hajimete no
Otsukai (My First Errand), an entertainment documentary show where toddlers are
sent out into the world completely alone, to go shopping or navigate public
transport. In Japan, Old Enough has been airing for 30 years, with two three-hour
shows broadcast each year. When it airs, a fifth of all Japanese viewers tune in. It’s a
true phenomenon.

The length between episodes can be explained by the sheer level of preparation that
goes into each task. All the errand routes are inspected by parents and production
staff, to check for dangerous roads or “suspicious persons”. The children are chosen
after a laborious selection process, the camera crew and safety team are given hiding
places so the kids won’t spot them and all the local neighbours are informed of the
task, so as not to freak out and call the police when they see a four-year-old
wandering aimlessly through the streets.

Part of the appeal, from what I can tell, is the show’s ability to instil confidence into
the children. They’re all aged between two and six years old, and they’re almost
always scared to death when they first set out. Rightly so, because walking a mile to
a shop alone can be a terrifying prospect for a toddler. However, the big
heartwarming punch that usually comes at the end is a newfound pride in their
abilities. The kids had an adventure, and they weren’t helped, and they did it.

So that’s what Old Enough is. Netflix’s aggressive stance on shoving it at the top of
everyone’s homepage is harder to explain. The arrival of Old Enough was greeted
with a flurry of press releases from the Japanese broadcaster Nippon, hailing a
partnership with Netflix for 30 of its shows. Whether those shows – including Death
Note, Your Turn to Kill and Life’s Punchline – will be given the same attention
remains to be seen.

Now for the big question: is Old Enough any good? The answer is a resounding “sort
of”. The good news is that the Netflix versions are much shorter than the original
programmes. These are all less than 20 minutes long, rather than three hours.

It is a resoundingly sweet show. For the most part, you can’t help but root for the
children. In the first episode, a very young boy walks to the supermarket to pick up
three items, narrating his adventure to himself as he goes. Later on in the series, we
see a young girl attempt an errand, only to rush back to her mother in tears after
getting lost before overcoming her nerves and setting out again. It is an absolute
rollercoaster of emotions that leaves you in tatters, and you suspect this is why it
has such a dedicated following in Japan.

That said, this is a very Japanese show, in terms of concept and execution. Japanese
words continually pop up onscreen in cartoonish font, and each onscreen action is
accompanied by what sounds like canned laughter or applause, which can be off-
putting. Either way, if you think Old Enough is inescapable now, just wait. A British
remake is apparently in the works.
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