How to read a menu in Japan

How ordering works: tickets, tablets and the call button

How you order depends on the kind of place:

• Ticket machine (食券, shokken). Ramen, gyūdon and soba shops often have a machine by the door. Pay first, press the button for your dish, then hand the ticket to the staff. The top-left buttons are often the standard or most popular items.
• Tablet or QR code. Many chains and conveyor-belt sushi places take orders on a tablet, often with an English option.
• Call the staff. Press the call button on the table, or say sumimasen ("excuse me"). Nobody will hover; you call when ready.
• Izakaya rhythm. Order drinks first, then a few dishes to share, and keep ordering in waves. Noodles or rice come last as the shime.

You usually pay at the register by the exit, not at the table. Bring the bill with you.

Reading prices: 税込, 税抜 and 時価

Since April 2021, prices shown to consumers must include consumption tax, so menus read like 1,100円（税込） or 1,000円（税込1,100円）. Older menus or small print may still show 税抜 (before tax) prices; add 10% for eating in. Takeaway food is taxed at the reduced rate of 8%, which is why some chains show two prices — see 税込 and 税抜.

Other price notations:

• 時価 (jika): market price, common for seasonal fish and premium sushi. Ask before you order.
• 一貫 / 二貫: one or two pieces of sushi per plate or price.
• 1本: per skewer, at yakitori places.
• 一人前: one portion, often with a minimum of two portions for hot pots.

At an izakaya: the otoshi and the drinks plans

Shortly after you sit down, a small dish you didn't order will arrive: the otoshi (tsukidashi in the Kansai region). It's charged per person and works as a table charge. Ask otōshi wa ikura desu ka? if you'd like to know the price.

Many izakaya sell set courses with a time-limited all-you-can-drink plan (飲み放題). Read the small print: the time limit, the last-order time, and whether everyone at the table must order the same plan — more in tabehōdai and nomihōdai.

Water, tea and what's free

Iced water (ohiya) or green tea is usually served free and refilled without asking; at chains it's often self-service. You'll get a wet towel (oshibori) to wipe your hands. Many set-meal restaurants offer free refills of rice or shredded cabbage — look for おかわり自由.

Tipping isn't customary in Japan. Pay what's on the bill, and say gochisōsama deshita on the way out.

Specialist restaurants and mealtimes

Many restaurants in Japan cook one thing well: a ramen shop, a soba shop, a tonkatsu or tempura counter, an okonomiyaki grill. Their menus are short, and the choice is mostly about toppings, size (並 regular, 大盛り large) and set or no set. Regional styles change the dish: Osaka and Hiroshima okonomiyaki are built differently, and Fukuoka ramen shops sell kaedama (extra noodles).

Lunch typically runs from about 11:30 to 14:00, with good-value lunch sets (ランチ). Dinner starts around 17:30. Watch for L.O. (last order) on the menu or door, often 30 minutes before closing.

Reading a Japanese menu with MenuGuide

Take a photo of the menu and MenuGuide translates every dish into your language, with the original Japanese name kept underneath — handy for matching it to a ticket-machine button or pointing at it. Yen prices are converted to your currency, and each dish shows ingredients and allergen and diet flags. These are AI estimates, and dashi rarely appears on a menu, so with an allergy always ask the staff.

Add dishes to your order and show it to the staff in Japanese, or let Speak My Order read it aloud.