Media × Companies × Dentsu Inc. Delivering Sex Education That Teaches "Living"

Sex education is education that teaches "how to live."

Dentsu Inc.'s cross-functional internal organization " Femtech and BEYOND. " promotes various initiatives, viewing femtech as relevant not only to women but to society as a whole.

This series explores the changing trends in femtech and its significance through the organization's initiatives, exchanging perspectives with diverse companies and media outlets.

The first installment introduces the "Life Education Project," jointly implemented by Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun, Asuka Pharmaceutical, and Dentsu Inc. for elementary school students and their guardians. A roundtable discussion was held with Naoya Yonezawa and Eri Oshige from Dentsu Inc., who planned and promoted the project; Takeshi Yuuchi from Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun; and Kyoko Furusawa from Asuka Pharmaceutical Holdings.

With increasing cases of young children suffering sexual abuse before acquiring sufficient knowledge, how should we approach sex education? We share insights from behind the scenes of creating and displaying an advertisement that sparked discussion, aimed at providing an opportunity for parents and children to think about sexuality together. We also cover the messages conveyed in seminars led by obstetrician-gynecologists and the reactions of participants.

<Table of Contents>
▼ "Sexuality" is a matter of life and death. Encouraging more open parent-child conversations

▼ Collaborating with media makes it easier for diverse companies to join

▼ High-impact launch ad! The goal: "Encouraging parent-child conversations"

▼ Unique seminars delving into pregnancy mechanisms convey "There are many ways to live"

▼ Expanding the "circle" with more companies and media to create a movement

Sexuality is life-related. We want parents and children to talk more openly.

Yonezawa: I'm Yonezawa from Dentsu Inc., responsible for planning and producing the "Life Education Project." For this project, Dentsu Inc. and our media partner, Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun, operate the secretariat, with Asuka Pharmaceutical participating as a project partner. First, please introduce yourselves and share your thoughts on joining the project.

Oshige: I'm Oshige from Dentsu Inc., participating from the 'Femtech and BEYOND.' team. For this project, I primarily served as Creative Director and Copywriter, handling print planning, ideation, and copy creation.

Within our team, there was a shared sentiment: "We strongly felt the necessity of sex education when we became parents ourselves." Today, children are exposed to diverse media and can easily access information about sex. However, this information can sometimes be incorrect or distorted. Since "sex" is a matter of life and death, we want to teach it ourselves, but we often feel frustrated because we don't know how to explain it properly. That's why I really wanted to participate.

Yuna: I serve as Advertising Director for the Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun. Our paper's mission is "to support children's futures." We see our role as conveying "essential knowledge for living" that schools often don't teach. We want parents and children to talk more openly about "sex," a topic often treated as taboo. We joined this project because we want people to understand it correctly.

Furusawa: I'm Furusawa, Head of the Women's Health Promotion Office at Asuka Pharmaceutical Holdings. Since its founding in 1920, Asuka Pharmaceutical has supported women's health by providing medical drugs in the obstetrics and gynecology field. Marking our 100th anniversary in 2020, we established " Mint⁺ (Mint) Health Lab for Women " as a social contribution initiative.

"Mint⁺" primarily targets women in their 20s to 40s, while " Mint⁺ teens " focuses on high school girls, disseminating information about women's bodies and health. We also distribute 170,000 copies of supplementary health and physical education materials to high schools nationwide each year, free of charge. These materials are used as sex education resources to help both male and female high school students learn accurately about menstruation and contraception.

Through our website and surveys conducted as part of these activities, we recognized the current need for sex education for children and their guardians, as well as its importance. Furthermore, all of us at Mint⁺ are parents ourselves and often discussed how challenging it is to talk to our own children about topics related to sexuality. While exploring ways to communicate information about sexuality to parents and children, we were approached about this initiative. We decided to participate, eager to contribute: .

Collaborating with media makes it easier for diverse companies to join

Yonezawa: First, let's revisit the project's background and objectives. My motivation for this initiative stemmed from the surge in newspaper articles during the pandemic highlighting a sharp increase in consultations regarding unwanted pregnancies among young people.

At the time, I was part of Media Services / Newspaper Division and was constantly thinking about projects and themes only a newspaper company could undertake. Seeing those articles, I felt, "This is it!" Amidst children catching misinformation through the internet, SNS, and various other media, I believed collaborating with a media outlet that delivers accurate information—especially one like the Asahi Shogakusei Newspaper that directly reaches young children and their guardians—was a meaningful theme.

Initiatives addressing such complex issues are difficult for a single advertising agency to advance alone. However, when a media entity with the power to act as a hub takes the lead, it becomes easier for other companies to join. Driven by a desire to broaden the scope of our activities, we first approached the Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun.

Yuna: The catchphrase Dentsu Inc. came up with—"Learning about sex is learning about life"—perfectly captures this project. While sex education starts in fourth grade in Japanese elementary schools, it typically only covers physical changes during puberty.

In Japan, the Ministry of Education's curriculum guidelines generally prevent teaching anything beyond what's in textbooks. The "Life Education Project" aims to address this situation where neither schools nor families can properly discuss sex, involving companies and media.

Yonezawa: Yes, that's right. In that sense, this project focused not just on "children" but on "parents and children." We wanted children to have their parents or guardians as the people they could turn to when troubled.

However, looking back on my own childhood, I couldn't ask my parents about this topic. For example, just seeing a brief scene of sexual activity on TV would cause them to change the channel, making me feel I shouldn't talk about it with my parents. We started the initiative at thinking that even slightly changing that mindset would be a positive step.

High-impact launch ad! The goal: "Encourage parent-child conversations"

April 18th Project Launch Ad (Theme: Sex Education)

Yonezawa: Now, let's look back at the actual initiative. First, at the project launch, we placed a full-page ad in the Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun. Centered around the Femtech and BEYOND. team, we successfully created and published a highly impactful ad. This ad also won the Silver Prize in the Print category at the 76th Dentsu Advertising Awards. Could you share the challenges and intentions behind getting it published?

Oshige: I believe the bold decision by Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun to approve our draft copy was crucial to realizing this ad. The ad lists several words typically avoided in print. These words embody the very idea that "Learning about sex is learning about life." However, if only those words were noticed, the intention might be lost. Therefore, we carefully considered how to properly explain the underlying "thoughts" through the body copy.

We felt that simply listing only serious, correct arguments wouldn't capture readers' attention this time. The most important aspect of this project was how to encourage parent-child conversation. Therefore, we strongly focused on ensuring this ad itself would become a topic of conversation between parents and children, and that it could serve as a starting point for parents to talk about "sex" with their children, even if they felt embarrassed.

First, we carefully designed the illustrations to catch children's attention. Then, considering the ads that would follow, we aimed to match them to specific "moments" in parents' lives, allowing them to convey messages about things they "really want to say but find hard to express." We received ideas from the Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun and proceeded with production, repeatedly reviewing which message should be delivered at which moment.

Yuna: From the moment I first saw this ad, I thought, "This is absolutely brilliant!" The moment you open the paper, the visuals and copy immediately jump out at you. However, given the sensitive nature and slightly provocative execution, we did anticipate the possibility of reader complaints. We proactively informed all internal departments about this type of ad in advance, prepared a Q&A sheet for incoming calls, and consulted with our legal counsel. Ultimately, we received very few complaints, leading us to believe the message likely reached many readers.

Yonezawa: Our company also subscribes to the Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun at our employee's home with children. I heard that some families saw this ad and prompted conversations between parents and children. Since this aligns with our goal of creating conversation starters, it seems the impact was significant.

April 27: World Life Day (Theme: Birth of Life, Human Rights) / December 24: Christmas (Theme: Sexual Diversity, LGBTQ, Gender Identity) / December 31: New Year's Eve (Theme: Sexual Diversity, Lookism)

Conveying "There are many ways to live" through unique seminars delving into the mechanics of pregnancy

Yonezawa: The Life Education Project also held two online seminars in 2022. Could you tell us about the second seminar, titled "What is 'Menstruation'? Learning Together About Physical and Emotional Growth," including its background, content, and participant reactions?

Furusawa: For this seminar, we invited Dr. Kuniko Tsukada as our lecturer. She is a renowned physician who has conducted numerous seminars and counseling sessions aimed at deepening students', educators', and parents' understanding of "accurate knowledge about menstruation and contraception," and who continues to emphasize the importance of "sex education" as an OB/GYN. When we approached her about speaking, Dr. Tsukada stated, "If I'm going to speak, I must be allowed to properly explain not only menstruation but also the structure of male and female genitalia and sexual intercourse." After extensive consultation with our Legal Compliance and Public Relations departments, we concluded that including such content was essential as it connects to the broader topic of "living life," and we decided to proceed with her presentation.

We prepared for Q&A sessions with participants by anticipating questions from various angles. We also structured the event so parents could leave if they felt their child wasn't ready for the information. In practice, however, almost no one left during the seminar.

Dr. Tsukada discussed the physical changes in girls and boys, the mechanisms of menstruation and ejaculation, and the process from pregnancy to childbirth. She emphasized the importance of protecting one's own body and explained that sexuality comes in many forms. Crucially, she didn't push the conclusion of "having children," but rather conveyed that there are many ways to live one's life. He explained that choosing not to marry or have children is also an option, and encouraged us to nurture both our bodies and minds to become the people we want to be. I thought it was an excellent lecture.

Yūuchi: We also gained courage through the seminar. There was absolutely no teasing in the real-time chat where participants wrote during the event, and the post-lecture survey showed many very positive opinions.

For example: "Words like 'sex' and 'sexual intercourse' came up, so I thought it might be too early for elementary school students, but the content was very fruitful. I also got to understand how my daughters feel, so I want to keep applying this going forward," "I hope this becomes an opportunity for parents and children to talk about sex," "If it's held again, I want to participate continuously. I'm looking forward to the next one."

Yonezawa: Hearing these reactions reaffirmed for us that this information is indeed needed. We're also producing a mook book with Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun called "Exploring the Mind and Body BOOK," scheduled for distribution to elementary schools starting early October. What were the key points in producing this?

Oshige: The challenging part of production was that, since we aren't sex education specialists, most of the text required revisions during the review process. Also, because sex education itself is still developing in Japan, I believe we need to carefully discuss with experts going forward what should be communicated and to what extent.

Yuna: Behind creating this mook was also our desire to provide something that could assist teachers when conducting sex education in schools. In that sense, we want teachers to use the version we released this time ( ), incorporate their feedback, and continuously consider how to make it more user-friendly for future revisions.

We want to expand our network with more companies and media outlets to create a movement.

Yonezawa: After this initiative, could each of you share your thoughts on how we should approach the theme of sex education moving forward, from your respective perspectives?

Furusawa: Through our "Mint⁺" activities, we recognize that far more children than we see in the news are experiencing sexual harm without proper knowledge. Participating in this initiative reaffirmed the importance of sex education, including for elementary school students and their parents. Even we, as communicators, sometimes hesitate about how much to discuss. However, we aim to engage fully understanding that topics related to "sex" are neither shameful nor something to hide.

Furthermore, we've heard from children that for some, visiting an OB/GYN from elementary school age is already commonplace. Moving forward, we want to focus our support on activities that help them understand: visiting an OB/GYN is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, and it's a place where they can consult about anything related to women's bodies.

Yuna: Our organization and children's newspapers nationwide, along with newspapers featuring children's sections, have been hosting the "Children's Newspaper Summit" since before SDGs gained prominence. This event invites elementary school students nationwide to envision what kind of world they'd like to see when they grow up and present their proposals to adults. Initially, we struggled immensely to secure sponsors, but now, in its seventh year, it feels like the times have finally caught up. This project will surely follow the same path. There's real significance in initiating such efforts early on.

What we also prioritize is always involving experts. Given the sensitive nature of the themes, we paid close attention to finding people who shared our vision for the project and could articulate it effectively. While financial topics are one area, there are many other things children should really learn. By engaging companies, experts, and media, we hope to broaden the essential learning they need for their lives.

Oshige: I believe our role is also to involve diverse companies and create a movement ahead of the government. Schools often can only cover topics aligned with the Ministry of Education's regulations. I strongly felt we need to carefully consider how to overcome this with companies and media, and approach it thoughtfully. While creativity is important, it's also crucial to collaborate with a perspective of social contribution.

Yonezawa: When we present this project to companies, they show strong empathy for its purpose and approach. However, the reality is that securing corporate budgets specifically for sex education remains challenging. This kind of support extends beyond education into diversity initiatives. We hope to leverage the likely future increase in national and governmental support as a tailwind to expand our circle even further.