Eating gluten-free in Japan: what to know before you go

Japanese food has plenty that's naturally free of wheat: rice, fish, tofu, vegetables. The catch is the seasoning. A dish with no noodles and no batter can still contain wheat, because most soy sauce is brewed with wheat.

Where gluten turns up

• Soy sauce (醤油) is in sauces, dressings, marinades, simmered dishes and stock. Tamari (たまり醤油) is made mostly from soybeans, but some brands add wheat, so check.
• Barley appears as barley tea (麦茶, often served free with meals), malt (麦芽) and barley miso (麦味噌).
• Batter and breadcrumbs: tempura, tonkatsu, karaage and kushikatsu are usually coated in wheat.
• Noodles: udon, ramen and somen are wheat. Soba is buckwheat, but most soba also contains wheat flour, and the dipping sauce usually has soy sauce. Look for 十割 (100% buckwheat).
• Rice flour (米粉) is everywhere in Japanese baking. On its own it doesn't make a product gluten-free: check what else is in it.

Each dish page in our dish guide shows where wheat usually gets in, and which places describe a gluten-free version.

Reading labels in shops

On packaged food in Japan, wheat (小麦) is one of the allergens that must be labelled. Barley, rye and oats are not, so read the whole ingredients list (原材料名), not just the allergen box (アレルギー物質). Our label guide has the words to look for.

Restaurant menus don't have to carry allergen labels at all. That's why it pays to ask.

“Gluten-free” in Japan is the business's own word

Japan has no legal standard for calling food gluten-free. When a restaurant or shop says グルテンフリー, it's describing its own food, and kitchens vary: some use no wheat at all, many share fryers or equipment. On each place page we show what the restaurant says, what we checked, and what's still unknown, and we put the restaurant's own warnings first.

Plan a little ahead

• Many gluten-free bakeries and cafés open only on certain days. Check the opening days before you go.
• Some places need booking, especially gluten-free courses. Look for “Check before you go” on each place.
• Save places as you go (they stay on your phone, grouped by city) and share the list with your travel partner.
• Open the free Pocket Pack before you fly and print it or save it as a PDF: keep your staff card, phrases and label words with you without signal.

This isn't medical advice. How strictly to avoid gluten is your call, with your doctor.