“My first errand”: the controversial Japanese reality series about children who go out on the streets alone and do the shopping

Independence or irresponsibility? Netflix recently released My First Errand, a controversial Japanese reality series about young children doing house shopping or some other errand without adult supervision. The program was originally created as a segment in 1991, and was inspired by the children's book “Hajimete No Otsukai”, published by Yoriko Tsutsui two decades earlier. In its pages, the story of a mother who sends her five-year-old daughter to buy milk was told.

Although, in the 1970s, this form of upbringing was common in Japanese families and also in other parts of the world, this reality does not apply to today's society. And this opened up a debate: reality television production has been severely criticized in its own country and globally since its arrival on the streaming platform. Despite this, its popularity in the Asian audience is quite large to date.

Each episode lasts a little or less than 15 minutes and follows children aged two or three who run errands before the watchful eyes of citizens. They don't know they are being documented, as the team behind the scenes hides in the distance to portray an experience that is as true as possible.

The children walk along the pedestrian crossings and go to crowded places completely alone, while a narrator describes their actions. This format gets the audience excited as they complete their tasks and return home safely. However, that does not prevent some strangers from approaching them on the way, because they walk the streets alone and run into multiple adults. The latter has led to the title being classified as a form of entertainment in which children are “abandoned” to their fate.

Although My First Mandado is intended to be a learning lesson for children in various homes in Japan, in many cases the protagonists end up ruining their own errands as they are too young to carry out such activities. They forget to buy some ingredient or just get completely distracted from what they had to do. In other cases, they refuse to do so even though it is an errand at the request of their own parents.

Self-Sufficient Parenting in Families in Japan

In Japanese homes, children are accustomed from a very young age to being self-sufficient by their own parents or grandparents. They are taught to do the shopping, cleaning, cooking and more tasks that contribute to the family's daily routine, while, in schools, part of their day is dedicated to cleaning classrooms.

The origin of this upbringing in Japan can be traced back to its own disciplined culture oriented towards respect for the elderly. For moms and dads, the fact that their children run an errand has a strong meaning that they are successfully facing the challenges that are part of growth and that they will soon become hardworking adults with a great sense of responsibility.

All 20 episodes of My First Errand are available to watch on Netflix.

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