A simple method using field-inversion gel electrophoresis (FIGE) was applied to detect herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) genomes in clinical specimens. The whole genomes of these viruses could be detected in small vesicle tissues by the FIGE method regardless of their clinical stages of skin lesions. And the sensitivity of the FIGE method was equivalent to that of an immunofluorescent (IF) method. These data indicated usefulness of the FIGE method to detect the whole genomes of HSV and VZV in clinical specimens.