Severe Food Allergies in Japan: How to Tell Restaurant Staff

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.

If you or someone you travel with has a severe food allergy, eating out in Japan takes some planning. Japanese food uses many ingredients you can't see on the plate, and restaurant menus usually don't list allergens. This guide covers the ingredients that are easy to miss, how Japan's allergen labels work, how to tell staff clearly, and how to read the answer you get back.

This article isn't medical advice. Your doctor knows your allergy, so please follow their advice about what to avoid and what to carry.

Restaurants in Japan don't have to label allergens

Japan's allergen labeling rules apply mainly to prepackaged foods. Under the Food Labeling Act, restaurants and cafeterias can leave out allergen labeling for the dishes they serve. The same goes for food made in a store and sold without packaging, such as deli dishes sold by weight. (National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, FAQ)

Some restaurant chains publish allergen lists anyway, and many staff will do their best to check. But at most restaurants, what you learn depends on what you ask, and on how clearly the question comes across.

Ingredients that are easy to miss

These show up in many kinds of Japanese food, and you usually can't see them.

• Soy sauce (usually wheat and soy). Kikkoman USA's FAQ says its soy sauces are brewed from wheat, soybeans, salt and water. (Kikkoman USA, FAQ) Gluten-free kinds exist, but at a restaurant you can't tell which kind is used without asking. Soy sauce goes into dipping sauces, noodle broths, dressings, marinades and simmered dishes.
• Dashi (often fish). Dashi is the stock behind miso soup, noodle broths and many simmered dishes, and it's often made from bonito flakes or dried sardines, so a dish with no visible fish can still contain fish.
• Soba cooking water (buckwheat). Buckwheat allergens dissolve easily in water and hold up to heat. Japan's Food Allergy Research Society notes that udon or other noodles boiled in the same pot as soba can pick up buckwheat. (Food Allergy Research Society, buckwheat allergy, in Japanese)
• Shared cookware and oil. Kitchens often use the same utensils, pots and fryers for different dishes. Even restaurant groups that publish allergen information may point this out. For example, Skylark Group's FAQ says its 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)

This list isn't complete, and which ingredients matter depends on your allergy, so follow your doctor's advice. At the table, it also helps to know which questions to ask: What is the broth made from? Is soy sauce in the sauce? Is there egg in the batter? Is this fried in the same oil as the shrimp tempura? Are the noodles boiled in the same water as soba?

How Japan's allergen labels work (packaged food)

Convenience stores, supermarkets and station shops sell a lot of packaged food, and this is where the labeling rules apply.

• 9 required items. Labels must show 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. For items such as soybean, sesame, almond, salmon, mackerel, beef, pork, chicken and gelatin, labeling is recommended, not required. If a recommended item isn't on the label, that alone doesn't tell you it isn't in the food.
• Where to look. Allergens appear in the ingredient list (原材料名). They may be written right after an ingredient, such as "(小麦を含む)" (contains wheat), or together at the end, such as "(一部に小麦・卵を含む)" (contains some wheat and egg). The second form doesn't tell you which ingredient contains which allergen.
• Read the whole list. Look through every ingredient, not only the allergen note. Ingredients such as butter (バター) and cheese (チーズ) come from milk.
• Cross-contact notes. Some labels include a note such as 本品製造工場では、えびを含む製品を生産しています (this factory also makes products containing shrimp). The rules don't allow vague wording such as 入っているかもしれない ("may contain") in these notes. A label without a note doesn't tell you there's no cross-contact. (Tokyo Metropolitan Government, in Japanese)

Labels are in Japanese. If you can't read one, ask the store staff, or look the product up on the maker's website before you buy.

Before you go

• Talk with your doctor about your trip, including any medication, and follow their advice.
• If you're bringing medication, read the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's page for travelers bringing medicines for personal use into Japan. Above set amounts, you need an Import Confirmation before you leave home, and some kinds of medicine have separate rules. (MHLW)
• 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)
• Have your list ready in Japanese before your first meal: what you can't eat, that it's severe, and which kinds of cross-contact matter for you.
• Contact your hotel or ryokan in advance if meals are included. Set dinners may be planned ahead, and the kitchen may need time to answer.

How to tell staff

• Ask before you order. Once a dish is cooking, it's harder to change.
• Show it in writing. Allergy words are easy to mishear across languages. A written card lets staff read at their own pace and take it to the kitchen.
• Say that it's severe. Staff may not know that a small amount matters. If your doctor has told you that even a trace is a problem, say so.
• Name the cross-contact points: shared frying oil, boiling water and utensils. Staff can't answer what they aren't asked.
• Ask one question at a time. "Is soy sauce used in this sauce?" is easier to answer than a long list.
• Choose a quieter time if you can. Outside the lunch and dinner rush, staff may have more time to check with the kitchen.
• Take a "no" as useful information. Some restaurants can't accommodate a severe allergy. Hearing it early lets you move on sooner.

How to read the answer

• An answer covers only what was asked. "No soy sauce in the sauce" says nothing about the broth, the frying oil or the garnish.
• "Daijōbu" can mean several things. "Daijōbu desu" is a common, polite reply that can mean "it's fine" or "no problem". It doesn't tell you what was checked, so ask a narrower question, such as whether soy sauce is in the sauce.
• 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 than written ones.
• "I'll check" is a helpful answer. It means someone is going to look.
• Cross-contact is often the hardest question. A kitchen may be able to leave an ingredient out but not rule out cross-contact.
• You decide whether to eat. If you're unsure about an answer, don't eat the dish.

Using TellTable at the table

TellTable is a web app that runs in your phone's browser, with no sign-up. You choose what you can't eat and how severe it is, and TellTable shows staff a polite Japanese card. If you choose "Severe", the card asks staff not to use cooking utensils, frying oil or boiling water that have been used for those ingredients, and to let you know if they can't do this.

With the answer buttons, staff tap one of 7 ready-made answers on your screen, such as "I'll check the ingredients. One moment, please.", and you read it in English. If you chose a severe allergy, "It may contain traces of that ingredient." is shown with a ✕, so it stands out. Question cards ask one specific thing. With a severe allergy, for example: "Is this dish fried in the same oil as fried foods containing (your ingredients)?" If you avoid buckwheat: "Do you boil udon or other noodles in the same water as soba?" Staff tap Yes, No or Not sure.

The emergency card shows a request for help in Japanese and can play a Japanese voice message for people nearby. It doesn't call 119 or contact anyone.

What's free: 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. 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 your first meal

Going in with your list, the right questions and a clear way to read the answer makes each conversation with staff easier to follow. 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)