>>When on a trip to Japan, I saw a bunch of first or second
>>graders on a train in Tokyo. No adults, but they knew how to
>>get on the train and where to get off to get to school.
Why Are Little Kids in Japan So Independent?
SELENA HOY, SEPT 2015
It’s a common sight on Japanese mass transit: children troop through train cars, singly or in small groups, looking for seats.
They wear knee socks, polished patent leather shoes, and plaid jumpers, with wide-brimmed hats fastened under the chin and train passes pinned to their backpacks. The kids are as young as six or seven, on their way to and from school, and there is nary a guardian in sight.
Parents in Japan regularly send their kids out into the world at a very young age. A popular television show called Hajimete no Otsukai, or My First Errand, features children as young as two or three being sent out to do a task for their family.
As they tentatively make their way to the greengrocer or bakery, their progress is secretly filmed by a camera crew. The show has been running for more than 25 years.
Kaito, a 12-year-old in Tokyo, has been riding the train by himself between the homes of his parents, who share his custody, since he was nine. “At first I was a little worried,” he admits, “whether I could ride the train alone. But only a little worried.”
Now, he says, it’s easy. His parents were apprehensive at first, too, but they went ahead because they felt he was old enough, and lots of other kids were doing it safely.
“Honestly, what I remember thinking at the time is, the trains are safe and on time and easy to navigate, and he’s a smart kid,” Kaito’s stepmother says. (His parents asked not to publish his last name and their names for the sake of privacy.)
“I took the trains on my own when I was younger than him in Tokyo,” his stepmother recalls. “We didn’t have cell phones back in my day, but I still managed to go from point A to point B on the train. If he gets lost, he can call us.” ...”
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/09/why-are-little-kids-in-japan-so-independent/407590/
FWIW I rode the P.E. (the Red Car) between Long Beach and L.A. when I was maybe 10 or 12, by myself in the 50s. Perfectly safe back in those days.
From some of the comments above it sounds more like every Japanese adult is a guardian.