One of the odd things that happens in Japanese television that couldn’t happen in the same way in American television is the way they mess with kids.
Right after I got to Japan, I saw a documentary about the musical Annie that showed the borderline abuse that the girls were put through, especially if they messed up the complicated hand gestures in once particular song. The director would sit back and basically call the girl making the mistakes a moron until she started crying and then he’d mock her. I saw this repeated a couple more times when the cast changed.
About the same time there were shows that were more violent versions of the games that used to be seen (and for all I know may still be seen) on Nickelodeon. My favorite involved a sending a pair of kids into a zombie themed haunted house (that was based on some video game that had just been released) and scaring the crap out of them whilst they solved puzzles or did dangerous stuff.
At one point they even had to eat things they didn’t like. The funniest boys changed plates sending their zombie guide into an angry tizzy that involved grunting and pointing (which is pretty much how I communicate now). At the end of the haunted house, they had one minute or 45 seconds to grab treasure out of a room that included games, computer games, toys, clothes and bundles of cash. Without any help from their parents they grabbed mostly toys.
Lately the trend has been more gentle but still interesting as Japanese TV steals from Lenore Skenazy who became the worst mom in the world (at the time) for letting her nine year old son ride the New York subway home by himself. (I recommend tracking down her presentations about this on YouTube as well as her website.)
What happens in one show, called Hajimete no Otsukai (First Errand), kids as young as two years old are given an errand by their mothers. “Go to the store, buy X, Y and Z, take the Z to your grandmother and pick up W, bring W, X and Y back home by supper time or I’ll beat you. You hear me? I’ll beat you.” Well, that last part is a bit of an exaggeration but the kids are given the assignment and some money and sent out. (This video has some English captions to give you a taste of what the show is like.)
Sometimes the trips are just around a couple corners or to the other end of town; sometimes they have to take a bus and figure out where to stop and how to get back. Dozens of disguised camera people follow them around but, as far as the kids are concerned, they are on their own. In one of my favorite moments a girl had to deliver her dad’s lunch to a local museum. Unfortunately for her (and for hungry Dad) the museum had a stuffed festival devil by the door and it took her a while to get the courage to go in.
It’s interesting to see the kids do things I had to do to save my parents the trip (and I’m always aware of the level of reality in “reality” television). It still works, though, especially for our youngest as this is her favorite show.
The kids often forget things or get sidetracked by ice cream and sweets or one kid dragged the bag and ruined some of the contents when the bag broke. There are lots of tears but also the obvious sense of accomplishment when the kids get back.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to send our youngest shopping.