I would like to share my experience about birth control pill in Japan with details like price (cost), health insurance, and etc. Hope it helps non-Japanese people who (are going to) live in Japan and look for the information about it.
This is very different from other countries, at least I know like Australia, Germany, and USA.
Birth Control Pill is Not Popular nor Common in Japan
Referring to Contraceptive Use by Method 2019, only 2.9% of women taking birth control pill in Japan in 2019. Comparing to other country, you can tell it’s not popular nor common in Japan.
- USA: 13.7%,
- Canada:28.5%,
- France: 33.1%,
- UK: 26.1%
I started taking birth control pill when i was 18 years old for a reason (below). But at that time, there was no one taking it around me, literally NO ONE!
No Health Insurance Applied
I hate to say this, but in Japan, you can NOT use health insurance for birth control pill whatever reason is. I have PCOS which is difficult for me to ovulate every 28 -35 days.
But still i can NOT use my health insurance for birth control pill. Also some people use it for their skin problem occurred by hormones. Still they can NOT use health insurance, either.
Visiting a Doctor & Prescription Regularly
You need to see a doctor and get a prescription from doctor for birth control pill. The doctor only gives you one-time prescription in Japan.
And for the beginning, the doctor might give you prescription for 1 sheet of birth control pill.
My doctor gave me only 1 sheet for the first time, then I needed to visit a doctor after a month and she decided if it’s ok for me to keep taking birth control pill or not.
She gave me for 3 months next time, and then finally she started giving me a prescription for 6 months. But that is maximum. So I had kept seeing a doctor every 6 months.
Price of Birth Control Pill
As I wrote above, you cannot use health insurance for birth control pill. So you need to pay 100% of price for your birth control pill(s).
Usually a sheet (28days) costs ¥2,800-3,500. It was very expensive for me to pay $30 per month when i started taking it at 18 years old.
Now i am paying only $9 for a sheet in USA, also prescription says that i can refill it for a year too.
Blood Test & Cancer Check
Also my doctor had a condition for letting me take birth control pills, which i needed to take a blood test every year and also a cancer check every year too.
Blood Test
My doctor explained to me that the blood could be stuck on vain because of taking birth control pills. It depends on hospital, but I paid ¥3,000-5,000 for the blood test every year.
Cancer Check
I also got an explanation from my doctor that it could happen to young women to be diagnosed with cervical cancer, but you might be able to cure if you find it sooner. It costs around ¥1,000-3,000 as long as i remember.
Some words/cities has a support for you to get discount for this test, or sometimes free, but there are some conditions too. You should check those supports first.
Yearly Cost of Birth Control Pills in Japan
After all, you need to keep going see your doctor and getting a prescription regularly, and taking a test.
- Birth control pills ¥3,000 x 12 = 36,000
- Blood check ¥3,000
- Cancer check ¥3,000
- + payment for seeing a doctor and getting a prescription x times doing that
It could be around ¥45,000-50,000 which i usually spent on. It is not cheap, but it was necessary for me.
Hope it helps you to figure out what you wanted to know about birth control pills in Japan.
