I was listening to a youtube recently talking about covid in Japan (their numbers are strikingly low) and the correspondent in Japan mentioned that 5 year olds

I was listening to a youtube recently talking about covid in Japan (their numbers are strikingly low) and the correspondent in Japan mentioned that 5 year olds commonly ride on public transit alone to school without parents. She said it was a rite of passage for 5 year olds that they ride the trains by themselves. That's just unimaginable in the US especially in a city like NYC. Huge cultural differences.