Kids with Food Allergies in Japan: A Family Guide to Eating Out

I'm the developer of TellTable, a web app for showing restaurant staff in Japan what you can't eat. I earn money from its paid Trip Pass. TellTable comes up near the end of this article; everything before that is general information, with sources linked.

When you travel in Japan with a child who has food allergies, you're the one explaining at every meal, in a language you may not speak, often with a hungry child beside you. If more than one person in your family avoids something, the list gets longer and easier to mix up.

This guide covers what to prepare before the trip, how to tell staff about several people at once, how to read labels at convenience stores, what some family restaurant chains publish, and tips for talking about your child's allergy.

This article isn't medical advice. Please follow your child's doctor's advice about what to avoid and what to carry.

Before the trip

• Talk with your child's doctor about the trip, including any medication and what to do in an emergency, and follow their advice.
• Check the rules for bringing medication. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has a page for travelers bringing medicines for personal use. Above set amounts, you need an Import Confirmation before you leave home, and some kinds of medicine have separate rules. (MHLW)
• Write one list per person. For each family member: what they can't eat, and which items are severe. Have it in Japanese as well as your own language.
• Save the emergency numbers. In Japan, call 119 for an ambulance. The Japan Visitor Hotline, run by the Japan National Tourism Organization, answers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in English, Chinese and Korean, including for accidents and illness: 050-3816-2787 (+81-50-3816-2787 from abroad). (JNTO)
• Email your hotel or ryokan ahead if meals are included. Set dinners and breakfasts may be planned in advance, and the kitchen may need time to answer. Send each person's list, not just the word "allergies".
• Teach an older child one phrase. "Arerugī ga arimasu" means "I have an allergy." Agree that your child checks with you before taking any food from anyone.

Tell the restaurant about everyone at once

When several people avoid different things, it's easy for staff to mix up whose dish is whose. These habits help:

• Give the whole list before anyone orders. One conversation is easier for the kitchen than three separate ones.
• Say who each item belongs to. For example: "My son: egg. Me: shrimp." Otherwise, staff might leave egg out of your dish and keep it in your child's.
• Check the plate when it arrives. Before it's set down, confirm which dish is the one that was changed.
• Ask about the whole plate. Kids' meals often come with small sides, sauces, a dessert or a drink. Ask about those too.
• Keep plates apart. Children share and swap food. Decide before the meal who may take food from whose plate.

Reading convenience store labels

Convenience stores (konbini) are a big part of eating in Japan with kids: rice balls, sandwiches, yogurt and snacks, often open late. For packaged food, Japan's allergen labeling rules apply.

• 9 required items: egg (卵), milk (乳), wheat (小麦), buckwheat (そば), peanut (落花生), shrimp (えび), crab (かに), walnut (くるみ) and cashew (カシューナッツ). (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, in Japanese) Cashew was added on April 1, 2026, and there is a transition period, so some labels may not show cashew yet even when the food contains it. (Consumer Affairs Agency)
• 20 recommended items, including soybean (大豆), sesame (ごま), almond, banana, apple, beef, pork, chicken and gelatin. Labeling these is recommended, not required, so a missing word doesn't tell you the ingredient isn't there.
• Find the ingredient list (原材料名). Allergens appear right after an ingredient, such as "(卵を含む)" (contains egg), or together at the end, such as "(一部に卵・乳成分・小麦を含む)" (contains some egg, milk and wheat). The second form doesn't tell you which ingredient contains which allergen.
• Cross-contact notes. Some labels include a note that the factory also makes products containing a particular allergen. A label without such a note doesn't tell you there's no cross-contact. (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, in Japanese)
• Food cooked in the store is different. Food made in a store and sold without packaging doesn't have to carry allergen labels. (National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, FAQ)
• What two chains say. Seven-Eleven Japan says its fresh food, including bento, rice balls, sandwiches, deli dishes, noodles, bread and pastries, shows both the required and the recommended items, and that it shares information on in-store hot snacks, oden and steamed buns through in-store signs and its website. (Seven-Eleven Japan, in Japanese) Lawson's allergen page notes that some products are made, cooked or sold with shared equipment, and asks customers to check the product label or package when buying, because specifications can change and details can differ by region. (Lawson, in Japanese)
• Check each time. These pages describe each company's approach in general. Products can change, so check the label of the item in your hand, even if you bought the same thing yesterday.

If you can't read a label, ask the store staff before you buy.

Family restaurant chains

Family restaurants (famiresu) are casual chains with kids' menus and long opening hours, and some publish allergen information.

For example, the Skylark group, which runs chains such as Gusto, Jonathan's and Bamiyan, provides allergen lists for each brand. Its FAQ says that several of its brands offer low-allergen menus for children, made without ingredients that contain Japan's required allergens (tokutei genzairyō); check the brand's current list for the items covered. The same FAQ says the food is cooked and plated with ordinary dishes and utensils, and asks highly sensitive customers, and those who have severe reactions, to take care. (Skylark Group, FAQ, in Japanese)

A low-allergen menu doesn't mean a dish is right for your child. It may still contain other ingredients your child avoids, and cross-contact can't be ruled out. A published list is a starting point: it tells you about the recipe, and staff may be able to tell you more about today's kitchen. Ask at the table as well, including about anything that comes with the meal, and follow your child's doctor's advice.

Tips for telling staff about your child

• You do the talking. Young children can't explain their own allergy. Keep the list with you, not only in your child's bag.
• Say clearly which child it's for. In a busy restaurant, "the small one" is easy to lose track of. Point to your child when you show the list.
• Think about treats. People sometimes offer children a small sweet or snack as a kindness. Decide with your child in advance what to do, such as bringing it to you first.
• Ask before ordering, and again if something looks different from what you expected when the food arrives.
• A "no" is an answer too. If a restaurant can't accommodate your child, it's better to hear it early. Have a backup plan for hungry moments.
• A nod may not mean "yes". In Japanese conversation, a nod often shows that someone is listening. Spoken answers and gestures are easier to misunderstand across languages, so ask one clear question at a time.
• You decide what your child eats. If you're unsure about an answer, don't give your child the dish.

Using TellTable for the whole family

TellTable is a web app that runs in your phone's browser, with no sign-up. You save a profile with what you can't eat and how severe it is, and show staff a polite Japanese card. The free version holds 1 profile; with the Trip Pass, you can save a profile for each person, up to 6 in total. At the table, you can switch between people. If you lock two or more profiles (the button says "Lock and show card"), you can also tap "Everyone" to show one card that lists what each locked person can't eat. Anyone whose profile isn't locked isn't on that card, so check that everyone is included before you show it. Because switching between people and the "Everyone" card need more than 1 profile, they're part of the Trip Pass.

With the answer buttons, staff tap one of the ready-made answers on your screen, such as "I'll check the ingredients. One moment, please.", and you read it in English. Question cards ask one specific thing, such as "Is egg used in the batter or as a binder?", and staff tap Yes, No or Not sure.

What's free and what needs the Trip Pass: the card, the emergency card and 1 profile are free; staff answer buttons and question cards have 3 free tries (1 try = 1 card, until you close it; closing or reloading the app may also end a try), then the paid Trip Pass. More than 1 profile also needs the Trip Pass: it adds up to 5 more profiles (6 in total), for example a child who avoids egg and a parent who avoids shrimp. The Trip Pass also adds word lists for reading Japanese food labels (not every ingredient name is listed). After the free tries, the app shows staff a message in Japanese asking them to answer by speaking or with gestures. TellTable doesn't translate spoken or gestured answers.

Staff answers are the restaurant's own answers, and TellTable doesn't check them. TellTable helps you communicate; it is not medical advice, and it doesn't replace your doctor's advice. Translations and ingredient notes may contain mistakes, so please check with the staff every time.

Before you land

A list for each person, a habit of asking before ordering, and a plan for labels and treats mean fewer things to explain in a hurry at the table. To see how TellTable works and what the Trip Pass includes, visit the TellTable guide, or open TellTable.

The labeling rules and store information in this article were checked in September 2026 and may change.

TellTable isn't affiliated with the companies mentioned in this article.

— Orpheus, an individual developer in Japan (developer of TellTable)