Rebranding Succeeded Through ToC Creation. - JFP Association (General Incorporated Association) -

How can we advance the spread of comprehensive sexuality education?

JFP Association (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo) conducts training in comprehensive sexuality education through education institutions, municipal courses, and online programs. Its members are midwives and specialists in prenatal and postnatal support.

Comprehensive sexuality education is recommended by UNESCO, a UN agency. It is not a narrow concept limited to sexual activity; it covers a wide range of themes, including relationships, human rights, gender, and well-being. There is also the expression 'sexuality education is human education.'

I understand that JFP is short for 'Japan Family Planning.'

In the work of teaching children comprehensive sexuality education, the association keenly realized that the adults responsible for teaching children have often not received comprehensive sexuality education themselves, and that many of society's problems are linked to this gap.

Working with the members of JFP Association, who are experts in life and think calmly and logically, I worked on ToC creation workshops (WS) from August 2023 to October 2024, in principle twice a month, online via Zoom. Although they are based in Tokyo and I live in Iida City, Nagano Prefecture, there were occasions when we held in-person WS when I visited Tokyo.

The ToC visualized the entire social system related to comprehensive sexuality education, leading to rebranding and the launch of a new business.

The ToC workshops on comprehensive sexuality education, an extremely complex and sensitive social issue, to be honest, struggled for a long time.

Then, during one WS, the atmosphere suddenly changed with a phrase spoken naturally by our counterparts: 'respect for the individual.'

It is increasingly widely shared that discrimination based on attributes such as 'because she is a woman' or 'because he is a man' is an outdated value system that can lead to human rights violations. At the same time, it remains difficult to understand precisely which of one's words and actions amount to harassment, and why. As a result, people continually and unintentionally become either perpetrators or victims.

Also, many people say, 'By the time I realized it, I was past the age to have children.'

Every woman has the right to know her own body, to care for it appropriately, and to choose for herself when, or whether, to have children. Men should learn this too, and it is extremely important to learn it as early in life as possible.

Many of us who have not received sufficient comprehensive sexuality education carry distorted or mistaken knowledge about sexuality, our bodies, and even communication, well into adulthood. We must first recognize this reality.

Know and respect your own body and mind. Only then can you come to know and respect others.

This idea of 'respect for the individual' also carries great significance in the workplace. An environment in which people respect themselves and one another gives every working person a place to belong, and it becomes a very strong foundation that leads to higher productivity across the whole organization. For each person's life planning, too, comprehensive sexuality education has great significance.

When I heard the phrase 'respect for the individual,' I felt that this was a very universal concept that could help resolve many social issues at once, truly a 'game changer.' By the way, this discussion became the background for our foundation's first value: 'We devote our full effort to respect for the individual.'

The ToC map discussions continued, and at last the ToC was completed. Then the developments were dramatic. First, JFP Association's logo and website were completely renewed.

Furthermore, starting from the ToC creation, a new business called 'corporate training in comprehensive sexuality education' was launched. This is a new direction: the spread of comprehensive sexuality education to adults. Many people who work at companies are looking for marriage or hoping for better family relationships, and this is an important theme that is by no means unrelated to management.

Comprehensive sexuality education barely exists in the corporate training market today. Through ToC creation, it became clear that a large blue ocean is spreading here.

The members of JFP Association are extremely busy, and they are currently selecting their commissions carefully. If you are interested, please take a look at their website!