What a full body MRI costs in Tokyo

What a scan costs in Tokyo

Medical Scanning runs imaging clinics across Tokyo and the neighbouring prefectures [1]. Its most complete plan costs ¥211,450 including tax, a women's plan with a whole body cancer scan, an MRA of the blood vessels in the brain, a contrast breast MRI, a lung CT, blood tests and 6 tumour markers, reported within an hour of the scan [2].

The same plan with the report sent by post costs ¥189,450. Without the blood tests, the women's plan with a contrast breast MRI and a lung CT costs ¥166,350, the plan with a lung CT costs ¥127,050, and the whole body scan with the brain MRA alone costs ¥114,400 [2].

Every plan comes in two forms. The Green report is posted to you a few days after the scan, and the Platinum report is read urgently and given to you an hour after the scan, for ¥22,000 more [2]. A scan of the bile and pancreatic ducts can be added for ¥5,500 [2].

A scan of one area costs less and answers a narrower question. At Medical Scanning, an MRI and MRA of the brain costs ¥28,800, a contrast breast MRI ¥45,000, a prostate MRI ¥28,800 and a lung CT ¥12,650, each with the report sent by post [2]. A doctor who knows your history can tell you whether one of these answers your question better than a whole body scan.

What the scan covers, and what it leaves out

The scan uses diffusion weighted imaging, often called DWIBS, which shows how water moves in tissue and highlights changes such as tumours, strokes and inflammation. The whole body scan uses no radiation and needs no injection [3].

Medical Scanning states that the scan covers the head, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis. It leaves out the thyroid, and the stomach and bowel, which are better examined by endoscopy, and it recommends a CT for the lungs [3]. A whole body MRI does not replace the bowel, breast or cervical screening your own doctor recommends.

DN Diagnostic Imaging Clinic Tokyo in Minato offers a whole body cancer scan with DWIBS that takes about an hour, and a fuller version that adds a brain scan and a CT of the body. It posts results 7 to 10 days later, shows its prices on its booking site and sets separate prices for patients from abroad [4]. If a finding needs further tests, it writes a referral letter, and it works with hospitals including the National Cancer Center Hospital and Toranomon Hospital [4].

Booking a scan if you live outside Japan

Medical Scanning books people who live outside Japan, hold no Japanese health insurance card or find it hard to talk in Japanese only through the Japan Medical and Health Tourism Center, a medical travel company run by JTB. It does not take those bookings directly, and the patient pays the coordination fee [5].

A screening scan is self-pay care, outside Japanese public health insurance, so plan to pay for it yourself [2]. Tell the clinic in advance about a pacemaker, a metal implant or a pregnancy.

What a scan finds, and what it misses

Cancer is found in a small share of scans. A 2026 review of 10 studies and 9,024 people without symptoms found a confirmed cancer in 1.57% of them. Its authors concluded that frequent incidental findings, methods that vary between centres and a lack of data on long term outcomes and cost limit its use for now [6].

Findings that need a second look are far more common. An earlier review of 12 studies and 5,373 people without symptoms found that 32.1% had a finding a radiologist would call critical or uncertain, and in the studies that checked, 16.0% of findings turned out to be false alarms [7].

A scan suits someone who wants a baseline, accepts that something will probably be found and has a doctor who will decide calmly what needs following up. It suits less well someone who would worry for weeks over a small cyst.

Five questions to ask before you book

The answers decide what you are paying for, more than the name of the plan.

• Does the plan include a lung CT, and do I need one?
• Is the breast MRI done with contrast, and is that right for me?
• Who reads the scan, and when will I have the report in English?
• Will a doctor go through the findings with me in person?
• If something is found, who arranges the next test, and what does it cost?

Appointments in Tokyo

Our full body MRI in Tokyo costs from ¥232,500. Anyone can request an appointment in Tokyo now.