Are Japanese medical exams mandatory?

I had heard that if you work in Japan as a company worker, you MUST take a medical examination each year to make sure that you're healthy. Is this true, or are there certiain things that aren't required? I've heard conflicting articles and I was hoping someone could shed light on the matter of what's actually by law or what's not required.

Under the Industrial Safety and Health Law of Japan, employers are obligated to provide health check-up to its employees, based on their obligation to ensure good health for the workers.

Yes, essentially they are mandatory. What exactly is done depends on your company, your age and gender. In my company we do a very complete check up which is organized very efficiently and in about 2 h you are all done. Out of the top of my head I remember the following:
Blood, urine, feces analysis; hearing; sight; vital signs; weight; height; gyn exam; mammography; X-ray of lungs; ultrasound of organs; gastroscopy (not my favorite part); ECG;
And probably something else I forgot. Very efficient indeed. The only thing It did not include was a dental exam.

Before starting a new job you also need to undergo a medical check up , which in my experience is a bit more limited.

The yearly exam is not limited to workers. Also students undergo a similar exam.

If you have some medical reasons (eg pregnancy , allergies...) some parts of the exam are shipped.

Additionally to these yearly medical check ups many companies also offer influenza vaccination. That’s entirely voluntary in my experience.

I personally find these medical check ups very good. It gives you a full check up in about 2 h for which you would have needed multiple appointments in most other countries. Plus it is totally free for you. So now although I no longer live in Japan, try to time my business trips in a manner to get the check up done.

Wow, that’s a lot of tests. Maybe this has a hand in why people in Japan live so long. No one in America keeps that much tabs on their body, even people who are good about annual checkups. I can’t even imagine doing all that just as routine, although it must be a good idea.

Yes. According to the law called "労働安全衛生法", you have to take the medical exam once a year. But the company I'm working for only provides a medical exam every two years. So I guess the law doesn't really matter.

For the company I work it is mandatory and I do think it is a good system to show your current condition or compare with your previous condition.
It often take a half day and I still get paid during this exam just for waiting and doing some tests.

I think it is a great system, one of the reasons why life expectation is this high in Japan.
Personally, I enjoy the yearly check, well except perhaps the balium one, where you have to drink this powder and turn you around on a table. For some reason I get stomach aches from that one. But seems like the test are really different from company to company, for example in my old company I also did the prostate exam, but luckily in my new company I didn't need to do it, but instead there is a grip strength test.