In a high-trust society, we trust people to not steal or commit certain crimes. Japan, being a high trust society, allows children to roam on their own, helping them build independence and personal skills early.
If you search on Google, ‘Japanese children,’ you’ll eventually find a picture of children wearing yellow caps and backpacks. This is the standard ‘uniform’ for children until their 2nd year of elementary school. This uniform actually has 2 purposes. The yellow cap is for safety; it's highly visible for drivers. Often, this mandatory yellow cap is exclusive to children in their 1st year of elementary school, and so, the local community tends to keep an eye out for them. It’s easily noticeable in case any accident occurs.
Next, the backpack, which is called a randoseru. If you think the constant eye for them makes it safe already, wait until you hear about this backpack! The standard backpack that almost all children wear to class until they graduate from elementary school. Now, this isn't required, but it is an unwritten rule to buy this expensive and traditional backpack. On average, it’s about $200 to $500! However, the security provided from this backpack is well-worth the price. The backpack offers earthquake protection, as it can protect the head, is buoyant (helps you float), and has a personal loud alarm which can alert adults of danger. Parents can even attach a GPS tracker!
In addition, we have to remember that although Japan is very advanced and can detect earthquakes, the nature of earthquakes are unpredictable. We can guess when and where they might happen, however, we don't know the exact date or time, or how severe it might be. Furthermore, earthquakes are sometimes accompanied by floods.
