Food allergies and gluten in Japan: how often restaurants are asked, the official pictogram tools, and what “gluten-free” is not

Japanese restaurants are used to being asked about allergies by foreign guests. More than a quarter of the businesses in a government survey said it had happened to them. What is thinner is official help for the guest. The tools I could confirm were made by two local governments for restaurants to use, and on gluten the only national standard I found covers rice flour, not restaurant meals. This column sets out what the sources say and where they stop. It is not medical advice, and nothing in it says a dish is safe for you.

The national list of allergens that packaged food must label, and how it grew to include cashew nut on 1 April 2026, is on the page about eating out with children. It is not repeated here.

How often restaurants are asked

The Consumer Affairs Agency commissioned a survey of restaurants and ready-meal businesses; the report, dated 31 March 2025, was carried out by Gurunavi, a restaurant-listings company. Of 1,842 businesses:

• 28.3% had been asked about allergies by foreign customers.
• 23.6% had been asked whether a dish contained an allergen the customer or a companion could not eat.
• 15.9% had been asked whether they offered dishes made without a particular ingredient.
• 15.8% had been asked whether they could cater individually.

The report also says that the national basic guideline on allergic diseases was partly revised in fiscal 2021, and that under it the state is to actively promote proper allergy information in restaurant and ready-made food. It records that the agency made pamphlets and leaflets for these businesses in fiscal 2022, and video training material in fiscal 2023.

What the labelling rules cover, and what I could not confirm

The agency’s page on allergy labelling says mandatory labelling is set for packaged processed food. I did not find, in that page or in the survey report, wording that says how the law treats food served unpackaged in a restaurant. So this site does not claim that restaurants have no duty to label, nor that they do. What can be said is that the mandatory rules described by the agency are for packaged processed food.

Tools for telling a restaurant

Osaka Prefecture’s communication sheet. Osaka made a food-allergy communication sheet with pictograms to help prevent allergic incidents among foreign customers at restaurants. It is in 11 languages, printed A3, folded in two, in colour on both sides, with a waterproof matte finish. The intended use is for the restaurant: when a foreign customer arrives, staff show the pictograms to ask whether the customer has an allergy and to which foods; check whether the dish ordered contains it; and then discuss leaving it out or changing to another dish. The sheet is handed out at public health centres, and a PDF version is published; the page was updated on 13 March 2025. Osaka says the individual pictograms may not be copied without permission.

Tokyo’s EAT TOKYO pictograms. Tokyo’s multilingual menu site offers 41 food pictograms for restaurants to put on menus: 5 for meat, 11 for fish and shellfish, 4 for vegetables, 5 for fruit, 2 for dairy, 6 for nuts, 1 for raw food and 7 others. They are meant to show the ingredients used, for people with religious or vegetarian diets and food allergies. The site warns that some people need to avoid ingredients not on the list, and leaves their use to each restaurant.

Hotels, in the tourism agency’s Muslim guidebook. One hotel it describes showed about 20 ingredient pictograms at its buffet, alcohol among them.

What I could not confirm. I found, but could not open, the agency’s page of multilingual allergy-awareness tools. I could not confirm a card or pointing sheet from the tourism agency, JNTO or a restaurant industry body. JNTO’s vegetarian and vegan guide does not discuss allergies or gluten. If you use a card, the tools above suggest how it is meant to work: as the start of a conversation with the restaurant, not a guarantee.

Gluten

Wheat allergy and gluten-free are not the same subject in the sources. Wheat is one of the ingredients packaged food must label, but I did not find official wording on how a wheat allergy relates to a gluten-free diet, or any official definition of “gluten-free” for restaurant food in Japan.

The rice flour standard. According to the farm ministry’s page, in October 2020 the ministry established a JAS standard for managing the production of non-gluten rice flour (JAS 0014). It manages the production process so that the product contains 1 ppm of gluten or less. Certification under it, by JASCERT, began in June 2021, the first on 30 June 2021. Separately, the Japan Rice Flour Association runs a third-party certification scheme for non-gluten rice flour products, whose first certification was on 14 June 2018.

Both apply to rice flour. I did not find a source saying they cover a restaurant’s “gluten-free” claim, so this site does not suggest they do.

What I could not find

• An official list of sauces and seasonings that contain wheat.
• Official guidance on how restaurants handle nuts other than cashew, sesame or crustaceans.
• Anything saying that telling a restaurant makes a dish certain to be safe. Kitchens and the handling of cross-contact differ by restaurant, and the official tools are not written as a guarantee.

What people get wrong

• “Japanese restaurants never get asked about allergies.” In the agency’s survey, 28.3% had been asked by foreign customers.
• “Japan has a gluten-free label for restaurants.” The national standard I found is for rice flour.
• “An allergy card makes it safe.” Osaka’s sheet is a tool for a conversation, followed by checking the dish and agreeing a change.