''Old Enough!'' () is a Japanese reality show that has been aired irregularly since 1991 on

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

. The program depicts, in a documentary manner, the efforts of toddlers going on an errand on their own, buying groceries and delivering packages, accompanied by the camera crew. The program has been distributed internationally since 2022 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

History

The show was a segment of the information program ''Tsuiseki'' (") that aired on NTV from April 1988 to March 1994, but after the program ended, it began to be broadcast irregularly as a one-shot special program of two to three hours under the title ''Hajimete no Otsukai''. Yoriko Tsutsui's and Akiko Hayashi's picture book of the same name (published in English as ''Miki's First Errand'') was the inspiration for the program's launch. Most of the children who try to perform errands are between 3 and 6 years old (nursery school children and kindergarteners), but in rare cases, children as young as 1 or 2 years old have also participated. Since the parents basically do not provide notes, but only verbally tell their children what they want, there are many cases where children forget to buy items for the errands or make a mistake. Currently, a winter special (broadcast on the first Monday of January or Coming of Age Day) and a summer special (broadcast on

Marine Day , also known as "Ocean Day" or "Sea Day", is a public holiday in Japan usually celebrated on the third Monday in July. The purpose of the holiday is to give thanks for the ocean's bounty and to consider the importance of the ocean to Japan as a ...

) are broadcast twice a year. In addition to new works, the program also broadcasts the "XX years since then..." series, in which past participants and their children are reported on how they have grown up today. One of the children featured on the show became a parent years later, and decided to send their own child on their first errand. ''Old Enough!'' has been distributed internationally on

since March 31, 2022, stripped down to ten-minute segments focusing only on the children's errands.

Preparations

The children who participate in the show are chosen after a selection process. Before the filming, the program staff and the parents inspect the errand routes, checking to avoid dangers and suspicious people; the people in the neighborhood are informed beforehand. The camera and safety crew accompany the children from close by.

International version

Two international editions of ''Old Enough!'' have been confirmed. In 2018, a Singaporean-English version of ''Old Enough!'' aired on CNA. The show was part of the ''On The Red Dot'' before being spun off to a main show in 2021. A Canadian version of ''Old Enough!'' produced by

Blue Ant Media Blue Ant Media Inc. is a Canadian broadcasting and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company was founded by Michael MacMillan and formed in 2011 following the acquisition of Glassbox Television. Its name was chosen in reference ...

made its debut on TVO in September 2024, with Canadian comedian

Colin Mochrie Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show ''Whose Line ...

as narrator.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site (in Japanese)

Official site for Canadian version (in English)
Japanese reality television series 1991 Japanese television series debuts 1990s Japanese television series 2000s Japanese television series 2010s Japanese television series 2020s Japanese television series Nippon Television original programming Japanese-language television shows Netflix original programming Television series about children