OBJECTIVES:  In Japan, the screening rates for breast and cervical cancers have been lower than in other countries, with rates below 20%. Breast cancer screening has been conducted biennially for over 40 years, and cervical cancer screening has been conducted biennially for over 20 years. Since lack of resources is an important barrier to increasing cancer screening rates, relationships between resources and cancer screening rates were investigated for breast and cervical cancers in Japan. METHODS: Based on the national data from 2008, the resource gap among 47 prefectures was compared. Resources were defined by the number of mammography equipment installations (per 100,000 women) for breast cancer screening and the number of gynecologists (per 100,000 women) for cervical cancer screening. Correlations between the screening rates and the availability of resources were calculated. RESULTS: The national average breast cancer screening rate was 14.7%, varying from 2.5% to 35% among the 47 prefectures. The national average number of mammography equipment installations was 5.88 per 100,000, ranging from 8.81 to 4.41 per 100,000 among the 47 prefectures. The correlation between mammography equipment installations and the screening rate for breast cancer was 0.420 (P<0.01). The national average cervical cancer screening rate was 19.4%, varying from 12.1% to 34.8% among the 47 prefectures. The national average number of gynecologists was 18.0 per 100,000, ranging from 13.1 to 25.9 per 100,000 among the 47 prefectures. The correlation between the number of gynecologists and the cervical cancer screening rate was -0.079 (n.s). CONCLUSIONS: Although the breast cancer screening rate shows a close relationship with medical resource availability, there is no relationship for cervical cancer screening. Since medical resources to increase breast cancer screening are limited in local areas, sufficient resources should be provided. In cervical cancer screening, other factors that affect the screening rate should be investigated.