Old Enough!’s New Life

Hajimete no Otsukai has been a beloved staple on Japan’s leading commercial broadcaster, Nippon TV, for more than three decades. The show, inspired by a popular Japanese children’s book, is filmed in a documentary style and follows toddlers as they venture out into the world, unaccompanied, to run errands for their parents.

“In our country, there’s a culture, ever since our grandmothers’ day, of children going on errands on their own,” Naoko Yano, a producer of the show, tells TV Formats.

While successful in Japan and with a few adaptations to its credit, it took until 2022 for the show to take off internationally. Licensed to Netflix in a global deal, it was packaged as Old Enough! with 10-minute episodes and became a sleeper hit for the streamer.

“A child without anyone guarding them, on their own—that had never been seen,” Yano says of why Old Enough! gained such a cult following. “It’s fascinating to see how children talk to themselves when they’re alone. They’re doing the errand to be of help to their parents, to support them. That’s what touches the people watching.”

The global success on Netflix prompted Nippon TV to relaunch the show as a format for the worldwide market. It has already secured an option in the Netherlands, with several other deals pending, Nippon TV’s Yuki Akehi tells TV Formats Weekly.

“It was sold as a format before; China, the U.K., ***Image***Vietnam and Italy had created their own versions,” Akehi says. “That was ten years ago. Singapore is now in its third season, but it had been a while [since we had sold it as a format]. So we strategically planned to reboot it as an unscripted format the day it started streaming on Netflix.”

Yano is confident other producers will come on board, given the universal appeal of the concept. “In any country, there are times when a child thinks, Oh my gosh, I must help my father or mother. That’s universal.”

The materials provided to commissioning partners build upon the expertise Nippon TV has developed over the years of producing the original Japanese version. “We know how to keep the filming safe and secure,” Yano says. “There have been no accidents. That’s in our blood, so we can share that with the producers. I recommend international producers try this format in their own country. People will be amazed to see how the children in their country grow when they go on errands.”

Nippon TV is also providing its knowledge on how to cast the production. “If someone reaches out to us and says, I want to send my child on an errand for Nippon TV, we decline,” Yano notes. “We send out questionnaires through local kindergartens and other facilities, asking if a family is considering sending their child on an errand. We have detailed meetings with the family beforehand by phone. We ask them, even if there’s no filming involved, you’re going to send your child on an errand anyway, right? That’s the most important question. That’s why it has this documentary aspect. We ensure the family is committed to giving this experience to the child, even without being on TV.”

The broadcaster has even fine-tuned the perfect age range for those cast in the show. “The youngest was a year and eight months,” Yano says. “The maximum was five years and three months. After that, children change. We found through scientific research that the brain changes after about five years. Before that, the children don’t notice the camera, or they notice the camera, but they forget it immediately and focus on the errand. But after five years, they stick to the camera. Why is this camera looking at me?”