Japan's flu shots all start on 1 October — but the fee and the deadline are not the same city to city
- Japan's 2026 subsidised flu vaccination for older adults starts 1 October in the cities checked.
- The co-payment differs: Machida ¥2,500, Shizuoka and Niigata ¥1,650.
- The deadline differs by two months — 31 January in Machida, 31 March in Niigata.
Every autumn the same question circulates in Japan: when do flu shots start, and what do they cost? For fiscal 2026 the first half has a tidy answer — several municipalities give 1 October 2026 as the start date. The second half does not.
"1 October" is when the programme opens, not when every clinic does
This is the first thing that gets flattened. Machida City's own notice adds: "the reception and vaccination start date differs by medical institution". The 1 October date is when the city's programme begins. Your local clinic may begin later.
A second qualifier is easy to miss too. Machida marks its fiscal 2026 figures as provisional and says the detailed notice will be posted at the end of September; Shizuoka likewise says details will follow once fixed. Anything you read in mid-September is not final.
There is no national price
Routine vaccination for older adults is subsidised by the municipality, so the out-of-pocket amount is set locally. In the fiscal 2026 notices: Machida ¥2,500 (provisional), Shizuoka ¥1,650 (provisional), Niigata ¥1,650. Same year, a difference of more than ¥800 depending on where you live.
Exemptions vary as well. Public-assistance recipients pay nothing in both Machida and Niigata, and Niigata additionally covers residents in municipal-tax-exempt households.
The deadline is where the real gap is
Start dates line up; end dates do not. Machida's flu vaccination period runs to 31 January 2027. Niigata's runs to 31 March 2027. That is a two-month difference — and assuming "March" while living somewhere that stops in January is how people miss it entirely.
Even within one city the periods differ by vaccine: Machida's COVID-19 vaccination runs to 31 March 2027, two months longer than its flu programme, at a separate ¥7,500 (provisional).
Two details worth knowing
Eligibility is not only 65-and-over. People aged 60 to 64 with a severe heart, kidney or respiratory impairment, or with HIV-related immune impairment, are also covered. Age is judged as of the vaccination date.
Timing matters more than being first in line. Niigata notes it takes about two weeks for protection to develop and recommends vaccination by mid-December. Shizuoka describes the usual season as December to March; Niigata as January to March. Either way, working back two weeks argues for finishing in November.
City-by-city amounts, periods and eligibility: 高齢者インフルエンザ定期接種2026
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