Food Allergy Card in Japanese: How to Eat Out Safely in Japan

Quick answer: what you need before you fly

Two things make eating out in Japan far easier: a food allergy card written in Japanese that you can hand across a counter, and a short list of the ingredients that turn up where visitors do not expect them.

You can create a free food allergy card in Japanese in about a minute. Pick your allergens, choose Japanese, and you get a card that states what you cannot eat in language a restaurant can read at a glance, plus a printable PDF for your wallet.

The ingredients to know about before you land are dashi (a fish stock used in an enormous number of savory dishes), soy sauce (which is normally brewed with wheat), sesame oil, and egg in places you would not guess, like mayonnaise-based sauces and glossy pastries.

Why Japan is harder than travelers expect

Japan is one of the safest, cleanest places in the world to eat, which is exactly why people underestimate the allergy side of the trip. The difficulty is not hygiene, it is that the base layer of the cuisine contains allergens that never appear in the dish name.

A bowl of plain-looking vegetables may be simmered in dashi. A grilled skewer may be brushed with a soy-and-mirin glaze. A side salad may be dressed with sesame. None of that is hidden deliberately; it is simply so standard that it does not occur to anyone to mention it.

The second difficulty is structural. Many of the best restaurants in Japan are tiny, run by one or two people, and serve a fixed menu. There is often no capacity to remake a dish, so the useful conversation happens before you sit down, not after.

The ingredients that catch people out

These are the ones that come up again and again for visitors. None of this is exhaustive, and recipes vary from shop to shop, which is why the card and the questions still matter.

Japanese phrases worth having on your phone

You do not need to speak Japanese to eat well in Japan, and staff are generally extremely willing to help. These phrases cover the situations that come up most, and they work best alongside a written card rather than instead of one.

How Japanese allergen labeling actually works

Japan requires packaged foods to declare a set of specified allergenic ingredients, including egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, peanut, shrimp, crab, and walnut, with a further list of around twenty ingredients recommended for voluntary labeling. That covers the convenience-store and supermarket side of your trip very well.

What it does not cover is food made and served in restaurants. Meals prepared on the spot fall outside packaged-food labeling, so in a restaurant you are relying on the conversation, not the law.

That gap is the practical reason to travel with a card. Convenience stores are handled by reading labels; restaurants are handled by handing something over.

How to use your Japanese allergy card in a restaurant

Hand the card over as you enter, before you are seated. In a small restaurant this is the single most useful thing you can do, because it gives the chef the chance to say no before anyone has invested in the meal.

Present it with both hands and a short spoken line: "Sumimasen, shokumotsu arerugii ga arimasu" (excuse me, I have a food allergy), then let the card speak. Staff will often read it, discuss it briefly, and either point at what works on the menu or shake their head politely.

If the answer is no, take it at face value and thank them. A chef declining is a chef being careful, and in a one-person kitchen it is often the honest response rather than a lack of willingness.

Keep the card on your phone and printed. Phone batteries die on long sightseeing days, and a folded paper card from the card generator costs nothing to carry as a backup.

Where eating is easiest, and where it is hardest

Easier: convenience stores and supermarkets, where everything is labeled; department store food halls, where packaging is detailed and staff are used to questions; chain restaurants, many of which publish allergen charts; and hotel breakfasts, where you can see the components.

Harder: tiny ramen and soba counters where the broth was made this morning and cannot be changed; izakayas, where dishes are shared and sauces are everywhere; street food, where the person cooking may not know the supplier's recipe; and kaiseki or omakase menus, which are planned days ahead.

For the harder category, the move is to call or email ahead, or to have your hotel concierge call. Booking a fixed-menu restaurant without mentioning an allergy in advance rarely ends well for anyone.

Before you fly: a short checklist

Create your allergy card in Japanese and save both the digital version and a printed copy. Add the English version too, since some staff will pass it to a colleague who reads English.

Screenshot the phrases above so they work without data. Download an offline translation pack for Japanese. Note the address of your accommodation in Japanese.

Carry any medication your allergist has prescribed in your hand luggage, with its original labeling, along with a copy of the prescription. Rules for bringing certain medications into Japan can be strict, so check the current requirements with the Japanese embassy or consulate for your country before you travel.

Learn where the nearest hospital to your accommodation is. You will almost certainly never need it, and knowing anyway costs you five minutes.

A note on medical advice

This guide covers language, logistics, and how restaurants in Japan work. It is not medical advice and does not tell you how to manage a reaction.

Talk to your allergist before international travel about what to carry, what your plan is, and whether your allergies change anything about where you eat. The card is a communication tool, not a substitute for that conversation.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a food allergy card in Japanese?

Food Allergy Options generates free food allergy cards in Japanese at foodallergyoptions.com/generator. Select your allergens and severity, choose Japanese, and you get a card you can show on your phone or download as a printable PDF. It is free for life, with no subscription.

How do you say "I have a food allergy" in Japanese?

食物アレルギーがあります (shokumotsu arerugii ga arimasu) means "I have a food allergy." To name a specific one, use the allergen plus アレルギーです, for example 卵アレルギーです (tamago arerugii desu) for an egg allergy.

Is dashi in everything in Japan?

Not everything, but it is in a great deal of savory cooking: miso soup, noodle broths, simmered vegetables, savory egg dishes, and many sauces. Dashi is typically made with dried bonito, kombu seaweed, or dried sardine, so it matters most for fish and shellfish allergies. Kombu-only dashi exists but you cannot assume it, so always ask.

Is soy sauce safe with a wheat allergy?

Standard Japanese soy sauce is brewed with wheat as well as soybeans, so it is not suitable for a wheat allergy. Wheat-free tamari exists but is not what most restaurants use by default, so it needs to be asked about specifically rather than assumed.

Do Japanese restaurants label allergens?

Packaged foods sold in shops carry allergen labeling under Japanese rules, which makes convenience stores and supermarkets straightforward. Food prepared and served in restaurants is not covered by those packaged-food rules, so restaurants depend on asking, and that is where a written card in Japanese earns its place.

Should I show the card or say the phrase?

Both. Say a short phrase so staff know why you are handing something over, then let the card carry the detail. Spoken allergen names are easy to mishear, especially across a language barrier and a busy counter, while a card can be read twice and taken back to the kitchen.