>social isolation is also increasing in Japan When was the last time you were there? I spent most of the past month in metro Osaka, as a parent of young child

>social isolation is also increasing in Japan When was the last time you were there? I spent most of the past month in metro Osaka, as a parent of young children, and I noted: * Young children freely coming to city parks, fraternizing, and leaving, in absence of any adult supervision, indeed, without any adults other than myself even present * Groups of young schoolchildren traveling mostly autonomously to and from school among busy urban streets (though sometimes under the watchful eye of many volunteer shepherds along the route) * Children as young as 8 approaching me to be generally curious, maturely and completely without fear * Proprietor of a local bar I visited knew everyone around, including my in-laws' family, this in the busy inner-city * Ample resources and facilities provided by the prefectural and local governments, including staffed play areas and civic center events. My older daughter was broadcast on-air TV with other children attending a Girls' Day event. * health care including vision/dental costs hard capped to 500 yen/treatment day (~$5) for children under 6 So yeah. I don't think the situation in Japan is comparable at all in any way to what's happened here in the USA. I would not allow even the appearance of my daughter playing alone in my own front yard, for fear of what well-intentioned neighbors might say or do, let alone the boogie-man.