The card helps you ask. It can't guarantee your food.
A card makes the question clear. It doesn't change what a kitchen knows or how it works. Staff may not know every ingredient in a sauce or stock, shared fryers and boiling water are common, and most restaurants in Japan aren't set up for allergy requests. If the answer sounds unsure, or they say it's difficult, take that as a no and eat somewhere else.
For celiac disease or a serious allergy, plan around dedicated places first (Find Me Gluten Free, HappyCow and similar apps), and use the card for everything in between.
If you have a serious allergy
Emergency in Japan (ambulance): 119
- Carry your prescribed medication, including adrenaline auto-injectors, and enough spares for the trip.
- Bring a doctor's letter, ideally in Japanese, and check the rules for bringing medicine into Japan. Some need a Yunyu Kakunin-sho (import certificate).
- Read FARE's travel tips for Japan before you go. It covers what to pack and what to do in an emergency far better than a card can.
- Packaged food in Japan has mandatory allergen labels. Restaurant food doesn't. Our labeling guide explains what the labels do and don't cover.
How the wording is made
The Japanese on each card is fixed wording, written for each allergen and diet. Nothing is translated on the fly: when you tick options, your browser puts those phrases together into one card. The English under it shows exactly what the Japanese says, so you can check it before you hand your phone over. Custom items are shown exactly as you type them, so write those in Japanese if you can.
Corrections
People who use the cards keep finding things to fix, and that's how they get better. In October 2026, readers on r/glutenfree pointed out that tamari in Japan can contain wheat. The gluten-free card used to ask for tamari. It was changed the same day to ask for soy sauce made without wheat, along with miso, fu and soba being added. Every change is listed in the changelog.
If something on a card is wrong, unclear, or reads oddly to a native speaker, please email me or open an issue on GitHub. Safety corrections get fixed first.
Privacy
Your card never leaves your browser. Your allergies, your name and any custom text are kept only in the page link and in your browser's local storage, and none of it is sent to analytics. There's no account, no signup and no cookies.
The site counts page views and a few anonymous button clicks with GoatCounter, so I can see what's used and whether image downloads are failing. No ads, no fingerprinting, nothing sold or shared. If you share your card's link, anyone with the link can see what's on the card.
Terms
tabemasen is free and provided as it is, without any guarantee that a card is complete, accurate or suitable for you. It isn't medical advice, and it doesn't replace advice from your doctor or a professional translator. You're responsible for what you eat and for checking with the restaurant. As far as the law allows, I'm not liable for loss or harm from using the cards. Nothing here limits any liability that can't legally be limited.