It's been common in Japan since before the second world war. My wife, who went to school in Japan, says it's seen as a good thing, to encourage independence.

It's been common in Japan since before the second world war. My wife, who went to school in Japan, says it's seen as a good thing, to encourage independence. There's a popular TV show, where they follow small kids (maybe 4 or 5?) on their first "trip alone" to do a chore, obviously they're being followed by a camera crew. But the TV show promotes kids taking responsibility for themselves (and it's cute of course). The US is just seen as a much more dangerous country than Japan. I mean, it actually does have a higher crime rate. Sorry, this is all purely anecdotal. But I believe it to be the general case (would as always love to see data).