Germana Carillo Japan’s MIRaES program is tackling teen depression with structured emotional education. Could the U.S. take notes?
In many countries, emotional education in schools is still more talk than action — but Japan has already taken the leap. This year, an ambitious new high school program is teaching teenagers how to recognize, manage, and live with their emotions — not just as a soft skill, but as a core part of their education.
The project, called MIRaES (Mastery of Interpersonal Relationships and Emotional Skills), is a year-long initiative designed to prevent emotional distress, particularly depressive symptoms, through structured work on relationships and emotional skills.
It didn’t come out of nowhere. Japan’s education system is famously competitive. Families often go into debt to secure the best schools for their children. Expectations are sky-high, and the margin for failure is almost nonexistent. Over time, this relentless pressure has given rise to severe youth crises, including the hikikomori phenomenon — teenagers withdrawing from society, locking themselves away for months in a desperate bid to escape societal demands.
MIRaES is the brainchild of Professor Akiko Ogata at Hiroshima University, built on years of research. Her team created an educational journey aimed at reaching students before emotional strain becomes a crisis.
Why emotional education matters
The mental health crisis among teenagers has gained urgent global attention in recent years, with depressive symptoms rising at alarming rates, especially among high school students.
As the Hiroshima University study explains, depression during adolescence is far from a passing phase. It can ripple outward, affecting academic performance, social integration, and long-term economic prospects. In Japan, a significant share of high schoolers exhibit depressive symptoms above clinically relevant thresholds, underscoring the need for preventive measures that actually work. Left unchecked, these symptoms can escalate into major depressive disorders, eroding cognitive function, motivation, and quality of life.
Schools, the researchers argue, are critical intervention points. They are uniquely positioned to reach large student populations during the years when emotional patterns and coping strategies are still being formed.
12 sessions, 4 core skills
The MIRaES program spans 12 sessions over the school year, each led by a clinical psychologist working alongside teachers.
Rather than vague “feel-good” conversations, the curriculum focuses on four core competencies:
- Assertiveness — expressing needs clearly and respectfully
- Cognitive restructuring — identifying and reshaping negative thoughts
- Anger management — channeling intense emotions in healthy ways
- Problem-solving — building concrete strategies to handle daily obstacles
Students are not simply told what emotions are; they practice emotional skills in real-world scenarios.
The results are telling. Among 120 Japanese students studied, those who attended at least 11 of the 12 sessions saw no worsening of depressive symptoms. Those who skipped more sessions experienced a sharp increase in emotional distress. The data echoes what previous research has hinted: working on emotions changes outcomes.
The american picture
Across the United States, the conversation on social-emotional learning (SEL) has been both promising and polarizing. Some states, like Illinois and New Jersey, have integrated SEL into school curricula, while others have seen pushback, framing it as overreach or political in nature.
Still, the statistics are hard to ignore. According to the CDC, more than 42% of U.S. high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021, up from 28% a decade earlier. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death for teens aged 15–19. While pockets of innovation exist — from mindfulness programs in California to peer-support networks in Colorado — the United States lacks a nationwide, consistent approach like Japan’s MIRaES.
If the Japanese data holds true over the long term, it might offer a model worth adapting for American schools, blending emotional skill-building with academic learning in a way that’s as deliberate as teaching math or science.
Sources: Children and Youth Services Review
