We have it in school and have done for as long as I can remember, we have Citizenship, Health and Social, PSHE [Personal and Social Health Education]... The general consesus is that Citizenship and PSHE is a doss, or a waste of time because when we start it we have GCSEs, nobody cares about the exam and talking about such topics with a teacher is embarrassing. And everyone who doesn't do Health and Social thinks it's a doss subject for chavs, generally.
So er, yeah, we do have it, it's not taboo, kids just generally think it's a load of rubbish. I mean generally here, some people may see value in it but I never found 'em. It's more the way they teach it than anything I think... A classroom environment full of people you don't always get on with is probably not the best thing.
I personally think these things should be taught at home, though I realise not all parents are responsible. So we should just go about it in another way.
As for Japan, however, I don't know. Just some background info from England for ya
