> Agreed on the observation about nothing for kids.

Where have you been? On my ~15-minute walk to the train station today, I walked past at least two playgrounds and an open park.

Are Tokyo and Osaka notably sparse compared to American cities?

In some ways, yes; in others, no.

Maybe I was in the wrong parts of Tokyo/Osaka, but I do try to walk all over the place when I travel; there weren't a lot of families going out to eat, or at the malls/shopping areas, or whatever.

However, you'll see train cars full of young kids going to and from school, unsupervised as far as I could tell. There are parks with play equipment all over, and I would run into kids during the day at combinis or 7/11s or whatever being kids. Probably more like what I remember growing up in the 70s was like in the US. I can't imagine a couple dozen third-fourth-fifth graders jumping on a train unsupervised in the US.

A lot more children out riding bikes unsupervised, as well.

I was in Tokyo for the golden week last year; there were lots of kids and parents running around. It might be that Tokyo is an internal tourist destination for that week that skewed my perception, though.

I love how in Japan children are free to go wherever unsupervised and there is essentially an unwritten rule that adults all just keep an eye on them. And as a result children as young as 6/7 can take public transport to get to school on their own. A real mark of how safe a place is...

> It might be that Tokyo is an internal tourist destination for that week that skewed my perception, though.

It's rather the opposite - families leave Tokyo to visit the grandparents still living in more rural areas. But when schools are out you'll always see more kids.