On 19 January, the Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP) Project Team (PT) on Life Safety Education (LSE) held an online meeting focused on Aomori Prefecture’s Pioneering School Obstetrician-Gynecologist (OB/GYN) Adolescent Health Education System”. In her opening remarks, Hon. Kamikawa Yoko, Chair of JPFP, underscored the critical role of LSE/comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in safeguarding the human rights of future generations. She also expressed strong expectations that the meeting would provide valuable insights drawn from Aomori Prefecture’s extensive and long-standing practical experience.

The guest speaker, Dr. Hasuo Yutaka, Director of the Aomori Women’s Healthcare Institute and an OB/GYN, introduced Aomori’s School OB/GYN Adolescent Health Education System, a groundbreaking initiative launched in 1981 and the first of its kind in Japan at the time. Under this system, OB/GYNs are officially appointed as school doctors to deliver adolescent health and sexuality education to all prefectural high schools, with funding provided by the prefectural government. The program is structured around four core pillars: lectures for students, consultations with teaching staff, seminars, and training sessions for educators. Since its inception, Dr. Hasuo has consistently conveyed the message “Cherish Your Mind and Body”, emphasizing from a practitioner’s perspective the importance of protecting one’s own physical and mental health, as well as respecting others.

Participants deepened their understanding of several noteworthy features of the initiative, including the fact that prefectural budgetary support has been sustained for more than 45 years, that adolescent health and sexuality education has been systematically embedded in the school curriculum, and that the program is implemented through close collaboration among the Prefectural Board of Education, the Medical Association, the Nursing Association, and the Midwives Association.