Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Korea's price for the GLP-1 drug Mounjaro is far higher than Japan's, and with the weak yen, Korean travelers have been coming to Japan to buy it cheaply — a practice Korean media call "sushi-jaro." In Japan the story fused with a broader unease that a weak yen and low regulated drug prices have turned the country into a place foreigners can buy up on the cheap. It also touched a medical-ethics nerve: a drug meant for type-2 diabetes being purchased in bulk for weight loss, echoing an earlier scandal over misuse of the moisturizer Hirudoid. Whether the trend has truly "surged," whether it is causing shortages for domestic patients, and whether the drugmaker issued a formal statement all remain unconfirmed.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Calls to regulate cosmetic and self-pay clinics (most common) — Most comments blamed the clinics writing prescriptions for cosmetic weight loss and demanded that the sellers be regulated.
  • Fear of shortages for domestic patients (next largest) — Many warned the drug could run short for the diabetes patients who depend on it, citing a drugmaker's statement and the earlier Hirudoid misuse case.
  • Price-gap economics and medical risk (a smaller group) — Some analyzed why Korea's price is so much higher, remarked that a safe-yet-cheap Japan feels "glitched," and flagged the danger of amateurs injecting a refrigerated, potent drug.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Korean travelers buying up Japan's cheap Mounjaro

Reactions to Korean visitors exploiting the weak yen and low drug prices to buy Mounjaro, with demands for regulation and worry over supply.

産経ニュース
産経ニュース
@Sankei_news
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韓国人の日本旅行、狙いは「マンジャロ」　格安・円安で利用者殺到…不正持ち帰りが横行 sankei.com/article/202609… 韓国メディアは、日本で購入するマンジャロが「スシジャロ」とも呼ばれ、韓国人による「買い占め現象が公然と生じている」（文化日報）と報じる。

www.sankei.com韓国人の日本旅行、狙いは「マンジャロ」　格安・円安で利用者殺到…不正持ち帰りが横行ダイエット目的の使用が広がる糖尿病治療薬「マンジャロ」の入手を目的にした韓国人の日本旅行が人気を集めている。韓国国内の半額以下とされる販売価格と円安の影響で「…
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Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "The beauty clinics writing prescriptions for cosmetic use are the problem. Regulate them."
  • "Start by regulating the hospitals selling it to people who aren't patients."
  • "Stop it — it'll run short where it's actually needed in care. Regulate this properly."
  • "The drugmaker put out a statement of concern — Japan keeps Mounjaro's price low, but they find this kind of buying regrettable, is the gist."
  • "Reminds me of the old Hirudoid case. But you can't just drop Mounjaro from insurance either — it's originally a type-2 diabetes drug, after all."
  • "It's fine for now, season-wise, but it basically needs refrigeration, it's designated a potent drug, and it's dangerous for amateurs to inject however they like — where do they even get it lol"
  • "They're not using insurance, so technically it's fine — but are Japanese drug prices really that cheap? Is Novola going to be okay?"
  • "Compared with the West, South America, or Southeast Asia, Japan is safe and yet cheap — the country is basically glitched right now."
  • "Why is Korea selling it at double the price? Dollars or euros at 1.5x I'd understand, but this is way beyond anything the won's strength would explain."
  • "If diabetes patients are actually suffering shortages, deal with it right away; if not, just raise the price to a bit below Korea's and sell it in volume."