A quarter thicker in cross-section, a quarter less dense, and a smaller donor supply to spend. A protocol calibrated on European hair has to be re-tuned rather than transferred, and in Seoul, only the surgeon is permitted to hold the punch.
NHT Japan (Kioicho Clinic) published price tariff, Tokyo (https://www.nhtjapan.com/price/), measured 2026-07-28. Japanese price: NHT Japan (Kioicho Clinic, Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, opened 1997) published tariff: FUE surgery fee ¥220,000 plus ¥990 per graft;
2,500 grafts computed from that tariff, collected 2026-07-28, converted at ECB rates of 2026-07-27. n=1 clinic, and labelled as such.
Korean price: one Seoul clinic's statutory non-covered fee schedule, 4,500-hair band (≈2,250+ grafts).
Also n=1. Both figures are surgery-only, so this is the one comparison on this site that is genuinely like-for-like on inclusions.
Regulatory and practice rows collected 2026-07-29: the Medical Practitioners Act §17 and the Nurses Act §5/§37 (laws.e-gov.go.jp: medicine is physician-only, nurses may perform delegated assistance under a physician's instruction; no Japanese statute or MHLW notice names hair-transplant steps specifically, and this row claims only the general framework), NHT Japan's own FAQ on division of labour (nhtjapan.com/faq: the physician handles anaesthesia, donor harvesting and recipient slits, nurses do graft dissection and implantation under instruction; the same FAQ states NHT does not offer non-shaven harvesting), and Shonan AGA Clinic's published pages (sbc-aga.jp, non-shaven at ¥950/graft standard, and a written guarantee: free re-operation where the surgeon judges growth clearly poor, no refunds, assessment window 1–2 years).
Yonghe Medical (HKEX 02279) FY2025 annual report, as reported by 21st Century Business Herald (https://m.21jingji.com/article/20260401/herald/8ab37652bb3ecb10351f10781d7c538a_zaker.html), measured 2026-07-28. Chinese figure: Yonghe Medical (HKEX 02279) FY2025 annual report, released 2026-03-31, reporting 71,400 hair transplant patients at an average spend of RMB 19,300 per patient, down from RMB 22,300 in 2024, across 63 institutions in 61 cities.
This is an average spend per patient, not a price for 2,500 grafts, and it is not comparable graft-for-graft with the other pages on this site; the row note says so.
Converted at ECB rates of 2026-07-27. Korean price: one Seoul clinic's statutory non-covered fee schedule, 4,500-hair band (≈2,250+ grafts). n=1, and labelled as such.
Regulatory, non-shaven and revision rows collected 2026-07-29: China's Medical Aesthetics Services Administrative Measures §11/§18 (nhc.gov.cn: attending-physician responsibility; performed by or under the guidance of a qualified attending physician) with hair transplantation listed as a Level-1 cosmetic-surgery item in the 2009 graded-catalog notice, No. 220;
no Chinese law allocates extraction versus implantation between surgeon and staff;
the split exists only in the voluntary industry standard T/CAPA 3-2021 §5.4–5.5 (surgeon extracts, qualified nurses may separate and implant), which its own drafters' trade press describes as non-binding;
Yonghe Medical's IPO prospectus p.165 (hkexnews.hk: anaesthesia, follicular extraction and incision performed by physicians personally; implantation absent from that list) and FY2025 annual report (221 doctors, 1,037 nurses; the no-shave product positioned as a named offering; the '5+5' guarantee document signed by the treating physician, with no re-graft or refund term published in any filing checked).
Hairtran Clinic (Bangkok) published hair transplant cost guide (https://hairtranclinic.com/en/articles/hair-transplant-thailand-cost-guide/), measured 2026-07-28. Thai figures: Hairtran Clinic (Bangkok) published cost guide, giving FUE from THB 102,000, non-shaven FUE at THB 100 per graft, Long Hair FUE THB 120,000–300,000;
collected 2026-07-28 and converted at ECB rates of 2026-07-27. n=1 clinic, and labelled as such;
the 2,500-graft non-shaven figure is computed from the clinic's own per-graft rate, not separately advertised.
Korean price: one Seoul clinic's statutory non-covered fee schedule, 4,500-hair band (≈2,250+ grafts).
Also n=1. Regulatory and revision rows collected 2026-07-29: Medical Profession Act B.E.
2525 §4 (the reserved definition of medicine expressly includes surgical acts for cosmetic purposes), §26 and §43 (tmc.or.th consolidated text: unlicensed practice, up to 3 years), Sanatorium Act B.E.
2541 §34(1)/§63 (hss.moph.go.th consolidated text: the clinic operator must prevent non-licensed practice, up to 2 years), and Hairtran's own printed guarantee and non-shaven pages (hairtranclinic.com, re-verified 2026-07-29). No Thai instrument names hair transplantation specifically;
the reservation is the general surgical-act reservation, and the row claims only that.
HairMD India published cost guide (per graft vs per session pricing): clinic marketing guide, lowest source grade on this site (https://www.hairmdindia.com/blog/hair-transplant-cost-guide-per-graft-vs-per-session-pricing), measured 2026-07-28. Indian figures: clinic-published cost guides giving ₹40–70 per graft for standard FUE and ₹70–120 for DHI/Sapphire, plus the 18% GST applicable to cosmetic procedures;
2,500-graft totals computed from those per-graft rates, collected 2026-07-28 and converted at ECB rates of 2026-07-27. This is the weakest source on the site (a clinic marketing guide, not a statutory tariff like the Korean non-covered fee schedule or an audited filing like the Chinese figure), and it should be read as an order of magnitude, not a measurement.
Korean price: one Seoul clinic's statutory non-covered fee schedule, 4,500-hair band (≈2,250+ grafts), n=1. Regulatory, non-shaven and revision rows collected 2026-07-29: NMC Ethics & Medical Registration Board, Guideline on Aesthetic Surgery and Hair Transplant Procedures, ref.
R-13014/18/2022-Ethics, 2022-09-20 (nmc.org.in: any skin incision is a surgical procedure reserved to a Registered Medical Practitioner; technicians only under supervision and only for non-incision tasks); Delhi High Court, Azhar Rasheed v.
State NCT of Delhi, W.P.(CRL) 115/2022, order of 2022-05-11, cited by case number;
AHRS-India practice guidelines (J Cutan Aesthet Surg 2021;14:265–284: technicians may pick up scored grafts, arrange, implant into premade slits and dress, but may not score, make slits or suture);
Eugenix and HairMD published non-shaven pages (1,500–2,000-graft caps, surcharge stated, no price printed);
HairMD's published revision band (₹20,000–60,000, 'always extra') and Eugenix's published no-refund policy.
Turkey's hair-transplant units regulation (Official Gazette 06.05.2023);
Cosmedica, Smile Hair Clinic and Dr. Serkan Aygin Clinic published price pages (n=3) (https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2023/05/20230506-11.htm), measured 2026-07-28. Turkish price: median of the entry all-in package advertised by Cosmedica (€2,550, to 4,000 grafts), Smile Hair Clinic (€2,390, fixed regardless of graft count) and Dr. Serkan Aygin Clinic (from $2,500).
n=3, collected 2026-07-28, converted at ECB rates of 2026-07-27. Legal rows quote Turkey's hair-transplant units regulation, Official Gazette 06.05.2023, articles 9(3), 9(6) and 10(3).
Korean price: one Seoul clinic's statutory non-covered fee schedule, 4,500-hair band (≈2,250+ grafts). n=1, and labelled as such. Packages and surgery-only prices are not like-for-like;
the row is presented that way deliberately rather than adjusted.
A hair transplant is a low-stakes, revisable procedure, so the case for us is what we can show, not what we promise.
Turkey’s 2023 regulation reserves only the channel-opening stage to a physician, and lets one physician cover five rooms at once. That is the Official Gazette, not an allegation, and it is most of the price gap.
→ Read the regulationA quarter thicker in cross-section, a quarter less dense, less donor supply to draw on. Measured figures, cited. They change the punch and the plan; we do not claim they change your outcome, and against Tokyo or Shanghai they buy us nothing at all.
→ See the morphologyA hair transplant can be revised, which is exactly why the terms for a failed proportion of grafts are agreed in writing before you travel, not negotiated afterwards.
→ Read the revision termsStart on the procedures pages: each one explains what actually happens before it ever quotes a number.
One follicle at a time, not a strip, the technique behind almost every high-volume clinic.
Return to work without announcing it: where it's available, and its practical limits.
Licence and specialty checked before your surgeon is named, the answer to "who holds the punch," made specific.