[imagesource: Netflix]

Only in Japan will they send a toddler out into the real world on a mission to complete their first solo errand and make a show about it.

Netflix just dropped the show for a global audience, with no context whatsoever.

It is called Old Enough and is a fun, sweet, light show about kids aged two to six getting persuaded by their parents to go to the shops for some “dumpling skins”, take out the trash, fetch the laundry, and take dad’s freshly caught fish to get made into sashimi, among other carefully plotted errands.

It is based on the wildly popular Japanese entertainment documentary show Hajimete no Otsukai, translated to ‘My First Errand‘, which has been on the air for 30 years:

Netflix just released worldwide “Old Enough!”, a famous japanese reality show about tiny kids going on solo errands.https://t.co/3vs6Ckyy8C pic.twitter.com/0wbIajRwBU

— Catsuka (@catsuka) April 3, 2022

Only two three-hour shows are broadcasted each year, which can be explained by the laborious preparation of putting something like this together, per The Guardian:

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.

The Netflix versions are much shorter than the original programmes – all less than 20 minutes long, rather than three hours.

In one of my favourite episodes, a young boy (he’s pictured in the header image) is asked to take his dad’s freshly caught fish to the local fishmonger so that his family can enjoy sashimi for dinner, and get apples for his baby sister’s first solid meal.

What you get is a boy’s fledgling exposure to a good Sisyphean task as he climbs a hill a number of times on his way home after repeatedly letting the apples roll down, as well as dropping the fish a few times on his way out, contending with their slimy skin to pick them up.

Here is another sneak peek from an original episode posted on YouTube:

In terms of concept and execution (think: enthusiastic narration, pop up Japanese exclamations, and canned laughter), Old Enough is a thoroughly Japanese show.

But the heart warmth that one gets by watching adorable little people do big things is perhaps universal.

The Guardian at least called it ” resoundingly sweet”.

[source:guardian]