In Japan, Small Children Take the Subway and Run Errands Alone www.citylab.com

A schoolgirl walks through a Tokyo subway station.
Toru Hanai / ReutersIn Japan, small children take the subway and run errands alone, no parent in sight.
It’s a common sight on Japanese mass transit: children troop through train cars, singly or in small groups, looking for seats.
“[Japanese] kids learn early on that, ideally, any member of the community can be called on to serve or help others,” he says.
Still, many city children continue to take the train to school and run errands in their neighborhood without close supervision.