The vaccines that matter most for gay men — mpox, hepatitis A and B, and HPV — mostly sit outside Japan's free routine programme, which is built around children. For adult men, most of these are voluntary (任意接種) and self-pay. Here's how to get each one and what to expect to pay. For how the vaccines actually work, use the general vaccines guide linked below.

🦠 Mpox

Japan makes its own mpox vaccine, LC16m8 (LC16 "KMB", by KM Biologics) — a single dose given with a bifurcated (multiple-puncture) needle, licensed for mpox since 2022.

  • Availability: Tight. LC16m8 has mostly gone to outbreak response and close contacts, not open pre-exposure vaccination for every at-risk man.
  • How to get it: Through infectious-disease services and specialist clinics; access shifts with the outbreak situation.

Open mpox vaccination for gay men isn't guaranteed here and moves with case numbers. If you want it, ask an HIV/sexual-health clinic or your hokenjo directly what's available to you right now — don't assume a walk-in programme exists.

🟠 Hepatitis A and B

  • Hepatitis B entered the routine infant programme in 2016, so younger guys may already be covered. If you're not immune, get it — it's sexually transmissible and part of the standard stack for gay men. For adults it's voluntary and self-pay (a three-dose course; check the clinic's per-dose price).
  • Hepatitis A is voluntary and self-pay, and worth having given faecal-oral transmission through sex. Also a standard travel vaccine.

Ask for the combined hepatitis A+B vaccine if the clinic stocks it — fewer visits, same protection. And get a quick antibody test first to check you're not already immune before paying for a full course.

🟣 HPV

HPV drives anal and throat cancers and genital warts — squarely a gay man's issue. Japan approved the 9-valent HPV vaccine for males in July 2025, but for men it's voluntary only and not in the free routine schedule (that covers girls). So it's self-pay.

  • Cost: Roughly ¥50,000–100,000 for the full course.
  • How to get it: Through clinics offering voluntary vaccination; ask for the 9-valent (九価) shot by name.

HPV vaccination gives the most benefit before exposure but still has value once you're sexually active. If cost forces a choice, talk priorities with the clinic — for a lot of gay men, hepatitis B and mpox come first.

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