Waking up and wandering around the apartment this morning, I heard some sounds from outside that motivated me to write up a post on the idea of child independence in Japan. The sound that I heard was the jingling of bells from somewhere on a nearby street. The first thought that may come to mind for many people is that it was a cat. The little jingling bells on their collars act as a warning for birds and other animals that domesticated cats love to hunt for sport. That was not the case in this instance. Instead, the sound of bells were likely coming from a young child on their way to school. The thing that will likely stand out about this to many parents in the West, however, is that the child is almost assuredly by themselves.
I'll be using stock photography for this post, for obvious reasons. The police here in Japan would likely have some questions for a foreigner walking around taking pictures of children. Not sure the language barrier would contribute towards clearing up any misconceptions, either.
Something that quickly becomes a common sight if you spend time in Japan is that of little kids wandering around on their own. This happens in large cities and small towns. Usually they are on their way to school, but sometimes they are simply running around for fun or to do errands. For parents in a lot of developed countries, this is probably horrifying. It seems like every 20 or 30 years there is a new child abduction scare in places like the United States. As sensationalist media becomes more and more accessible in our lives, parents are likely getting more and more hysterical about the idea of their children being left unattended somewhere. There are a few developed countries, however, where this is not the case. In places like Japan and Finland, the idea of kids having a high degree of independence is still prevalent.
About two years ago, there was a series on Netflix that briefly gained notoriety called "Old Enough!" This is the English translation of a long-running Japanese series called "Hajimete no Otsukai", which means "My First Errand!" The show has been airing since the early 90s. The show follows young children as they go about running their first errand, such as buying groceries.
In Japan, the idea of children gaining independence is widespread. Children often walk, ride their bike, and take buses or trains to school entirely on their own. While the scenarios shown in "Old Enough!" tend to be extreme examples, such as a 3 year-old going out to buy cabbage or something, there is some truth to the idea. Generally, kids are free to traverse familiar routes and places by themselves without it causing a national panic and calls for the parents to be arrested for negligence.
There are a few reasons for this attitude. Japanese cities and towns are designed to be very easily walkable...
This was the street I walked down when I was headed to Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine during Culture Day. 2-way street, traveled by city buses, no sidewalk, and with light poles that passing vehicles come within inches of.
...well, mostly. I have definitely experienced my share of roads around here which would make me question the validity of that assertion. For the most part, however, the streets are easy to navigate. Vehicle speeds in Japan are also lower, so the cars don't tend to go as fast as other countries. Vehicles tend to be much smaller as well. In fact, some of the most common vehicles would probably struggle to break 110km/h. That should give you an idea of the philosophy on cars over here.
Another reason for this approach is Japan's low rate of crime. Cultural attitudes also encourage people to report anything that stands out, so "suspicious people" will find themselves likely being monitored by any number of local residents, with police not far out of reach.
A common joke in anime and manga, albeit possibly on the darker side, is a character speaking to a child or otherwise young character and it being considered suspicious, with someone immediately calling the police or having an officer suddenly appear from nowhere.
This extends to the home as well, with kids often returning to an empty home if their parents are still at work when school gets out. That said, it is more common for parents to arrange after-school activities or cram school for children so that they are not home alone.
Something else you may notice is that these kids, or at least the younger ones, will often be wearing yellow hats. This is to help them be more visible to traffic and also signal to adults to be on the lookout for them if they are in need of help.
As for the bells I mentioned at the beginning of the post? It serves as a useful signal to others that children are moving through the area. Perhaps more importantly, bells have a cultural significance in Japan, with the belief that they offer protection and ward off evil.
