I’m Maezawa from the President’s Office, and I’ll answer this too.
> Is an STI test something you’re supposed to get regularly?
I don’t know if it’s strictly something you have to do, but it’s definitely better to get tested.
After seeing Shingori’s post, I learned that public health centers offer free testing. When I looked it up, I found that in Tokyo, the Shinjuku East Exit Testing and Counseling Office offers anonymous, free HIV and syphilis testing.
It also says that from June 1 to June 30 and November 16 to December 15, those who wish can also get tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea at the same time. Since it’s a urine test, you need to pick up a urine collection kit by the day before your appointment.
That might be good enough.
However, because the testing is anonymous and free, they don’t issue certificates or other documentation of the results.
So the downside is that you can’t show proof that you’ve been tested—for example, at Universe Club, if you report your results, they’ll note something like “Tested on [date],” along with the items tested and that the results were negative.
Still, getting tested for free is certainly a plus.
The only issue is that combined chlamydia and gonorrhea testing isn’t available outside June 1–30 and November 16–December 15, so you’d probably need to pay for testing during the rest of the year.
It probably varies depending on where you live, but if they also offer combined chlamydia and gonorrhea testing, free testing seems perfectly fine to me.
I’m Dai, a male member.
As long as you always use condoms, you can feel reasonably safe.
However, they’re not foolproof, so I recommend getting tested about once a year.
I’m Kazu, a male member.
Women often don’t realize they have an STI, so I think it’s best to get tested regularly. Wearing a condom doesn’t guarantee that you won’t contract an STI.
Chlamydia is especially common among women: statistically, the number of reported cases is more than six times higher than gonorrhea, and even compared with sentinel surveillance figures alone, it’s more than five times higher than the total number of reported syphilis cases. So I think regular testing is a good idea.
I’m Shingo Lee (Shingori), a columnist.
Women often show few noticeable symptoms of STIs, so it’s a good idea to get tested regularly. It’s also an overly simplistic misconception that condoms prevent STIs 100% of the time, or that having sex without one will definitely transmit an infection.
You don’t necessarily need to get tested very often, but if this is your livelihood, make sure to get regular checkups. Some public health centers offer free STI testing.
I usually get tested for free at a public health center myself.
