How to Ask a Japanese Restaurant About Allergies

Restaurant answer — what to do next

Read the restaurant's answer against your own safety need. A yes with a stated preparation is the most useful result, but only if the kitchen's stated changes match what you need. A no, an uncertain answer, or being told to decide at the table all mean the same thing: choose an option that is safe for you, not a restaurant that you hope will be safe.

State the allergen precisely

Start the conversation with the exact food, in a word the kitchen will recognize, and say clearly that it is an allergy rather than a preference or a mild dislike. The Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) of Japan designates eight ingredients (特定原材料) for mandatory labeling on packaged foods — egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, peanut, shrimp, crab, and walnut — and recommends labeling for twenty more. Restaurants are not legally required to follow this list, but the standard Japanese names below are the ones a kitchen is most likely to understand.

• The exact ingredient or ingredients, including the form (whole, powder, oil, stock, sauce).
• The standard Japanese name: 卵 (tamago, egg), 乳 / 牛乳 (nyū / gyūnyū, milk), 小麦 (komugi, wheat), そば (soba, buckwheat), 落花生 / ピーナッツ (rakkasei / pīnattsu, peanut), えび (ebi, shrimp), かに (kani, crab), くるみ (kurumi, walnut), ごま (goma, sesame), 大豆 (daizu, soy).
• Whether the concern is a diagnosed allergy, an intolerance, or a preference, and how severe a reaction can be.
• Whether cross-contact through shared oil, water, cutting boards, or utensils is a concern for you.
• Your reservation date, time, party size, and the dish you are considering, if you already have one.

• CAA: Food allergy labeling information (Japanese) ↗
• CAA: Food allergy communication sheet (multilingual, smartphone version) ↗

Match the question to the kind of menu

The right question depends on what the restaurant publishes. A chain restaurant that prints an allergen chart for every menu item has usually already decided what each dish contains, so the call is mainly about the booking and your specific dish. A small independent restaurant, an izakaya, or a counter sushi place has no published chart, so the question has to be about the specific dish, the broth, and the shared equipment. A ryokan kaiseki dinner and a high-end omakase counter usually need a longer lead time, since the menu is set in advance. Do not assume one menu style answers the other.

• Chain restaurant with a published allergen chart: confirm the booking, the dish, and any garnish or sauce the chart does not list.
• Independent restaurant, izakaya, or counter: ask about the specific dish, the stock (dashi), the sauce or tare, and shared equipment.
• Ryokan kaiseki or omakase tasting menu: disclose the allergy at the time of booking, well before the meal date, so the kitchen can plan a substitution.
• Temple shojin-ryori, vegetarian, or vegan place: ask whether the dashi is kombu-only or includes bonito, since this often decides whether the meal fits a fish or fish-stock allergy.

• JNTO: For travelers with food restrictions (communication card, PDF) ↗

What a restaurant can and cannot guarantee

Japanese food law requires allergen labeling on packaged food but does not require restaurants to provide allergen information. Anything a restaurant tells you about its kitchen is therefore voluntary, even when the staff are being careful. A chain with a printed chart has a higher chance of being consistent across visits, because the recipe is fixed, but a chart is still not a medical guarantee. Use the restaurant's answer together with your own safety need, and do not rely on any single source — a chart, a translation app, or a phone call — to make the decision for you.

• A restaurant can describe its current preparation and policy for a specific booking; it cannot promise a medically safe meal.
• A chain's allergen chart is a useful starting point, but the kitchen can still change a recipe, a stock, or a supplier without updating the chart on the same day.
• An independent restaurant is more likely to vary by season, by chef, or by visit, so the answer for tonight's meal may not apply to tomorrow's.
• If the answer does not give you enough certainty, choose a different restaurant or a different dish; the safety decision is yours, not the kitchen's.

If you have multiple allergies

List every allergen that matters, with the standard Japanese name for each, and ask the kitchen to confirm each one for the specific dish. A kitchen that can avoid one ingredient may still share a fryer, a stock, or a cutting board with another, so ask about cross-contact for each allergen separately. If two of your allergens are common in Japanese cooking (for example, wheat and soy, or egg and milk), be ready for the kitchen to suggest a different dish rather than a modified version of the original.

• Name each allergen in Japanese, in one sentence, so the kitchen hears them all at once.
• For each allergen, ask the same three things: is it in the recipe, is it in the stock or sauce, and is shared equipment a concern.
• If the kitchen can avoid one but not the other, decide whether the dish is still acceptable, or whether a different restaurant is a safer choice.
• Keep the written answer from the kitchen, especially for a multi-day ryokan or kaiseki stay, so the same question does not have to be re-asked on each course.

If the answer is unclear

An unclear answer is the same as a no for safety purposes. Ask one follow-up question that narrows the gap, and if the second answer is still vague, choose a different restaurant. A translation app, a written card, or a phone call through a Japanese speaker can help, but the restaurant's clarity is what decides whether the meal is safe for you.

• Ask the kitchen to confirm the specific dish, the specific date, and the specific allergen — not the menu in general.
• If the staff say wakarimasen ("we cannot say for sure"), take this as a no and do not push for a more positive answer.
• If the restaurant asks you to decide at the table, decide whether that level of uncertainty is acceptable for your health; if not, eat somewhere else.
• Keep a small written note with the allergen in Japanese and English so you can show it at the door if the booking did not reach the kitchen.

Copy-and-send message to the restaurant

Send this through the restaurant's official contact form, email, or DM. Do not include payment-card details or passport images. Replace the brackets, keep the request to one screen, and add or remove lines to match the dish you are considering.

Carry your own safety information

Treat the restaurant's answer as one input, not the only input. Carry your prescribed medication, the allergen name in Japanese, and the contact information for emergency services in Japan. For a medical emergency, dial 119. JNTO also publishes a 24-hour Japan Visitor Hotline that supports English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

• Keep your prescribed medication with you, not in checked luggage, and follow the storage instructions you were given.
• Note the standard Japanese name of your allergen so you can point to it at the door, not rely on pronunciation alone.
• For a medical emergency in Japan, dial 119 for an ambulance. The service is available to anyone in the country.
• If the meal is part of a longer stay, save the kitchen's written answer so the same question does not have to be re-asked for every course.

• JNTO: Japan Visitor Hotline (24h, multilingual) ↗
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Food Allergy Communication Sheet ↗

Useful phrases if you call yourself

If you'd rather try the call yourself first, these phrases can help.

I have a food allergy.

食たべ物もののアレルギーが、あります。

Does this dish contain ___?

この料理りょうりに、 ___ が入はいっていますか？

Can you prepare it without ___?

___ を入いれないで、作つくってもらえますか？

I have a severe allergy to ___.

___ に、重おもいアレルギーがあります。

Could you check the ingredient list?

原材料げんざいりょうの表ひょうを、確認かくにんしてもらえますか？

Can you prepare the meal without cross-contact?

交差接触こうさせっしょくがないよう、料理りょうりを作つくってもらえますか？

Common questions

Can a restaurant guarantee an allergen-free meal in Japan?

Do not assume so. The restaurant can describe its current preparation and policy, but its answer is not a medical guarantee. Decide based on the information it gives and your own safety needs.

Should I mention an allergy when I already have a reservation?

Yes. Give the restaurant your reservation name, date, time, party size, and the exact ingredient or concern so it can check the planned meal or its current policy.

Can MORISTACK guarantee the meal is safe?

No. MORISTACK can ask a restaurant a clear question in Japanese and report its response. The food-safety decision is yours, based on the answer and your own medical situation.

What if the menu says allergen-free but I'm not sure?

A menu label is not the same as a kitchen guarantee. Ask separately about the stock, the sauce or tare, the garnish, and whether the cooking equipment (fryer, grill, pot, water) is shared. If the answer is still unclear, choose a different restaurant.

Should I avoid restaurants that don't answer in English?

Not necessarily. Many small and independent restaurants do not have English-speaking staff but can still answer a clear allergy question. Use a written card, a translation app, or a Japanese-speaking caller to ask the question in Japanese, and base the decision on the answer you receive.

What about cross-contact vs trace amounts?

Cross-contact means a food was prepared or cooked near your allergen (shared oil, water, cutting board, or utensils), even if your dish does not contain it as an ingredient. Trace amounts are the small residues that can remain. Both can matter for a diagnosed allergy, and neither is a recipe change the kitchen can guarantee. Ask about both before you book.