That's not a Node.js issue, that's a whoever built it originally issue. There's no rule in Node.js/JavaScript that you have to add a ton of deps. Culturally it's popular, sure, but that shouldn't be pinned on the runtime.
When you choose a language, you chose to hire the programmers for it. They will have read the same blogs, seen the same examples, made the same architectural choices.
Long term, when you choose node, you get zillions of tiny dependencies.