Say It Sushi › How to Say “I'm Allergic” in Japanese: Phrases, Allergen Words, and a Card for Staff

How to Say “I'm Allergic” in Japanese: Phrases, Allergen Words, and a Card for Staff

To say “I'm allergic to…” in Japanese, put the food first and add アレルギーが あります (arerugī ga arimasu), “I have an allergy.” For example, えび アレルギーが あります (ebi arerugī ga arimasu) means “I'm allergic to shrimp.” The shortest version, fine at a busy counter, is えび アレルギーです (ebi arerugī desu), “Shrimp allergy.”

Always say the word arerugī. “I can't eat shrimp” on its own may be taken as a preference rather than an allergy.

A spoken phrase is a start, not a guarantee. If your allergy is serious, show staff a written note in Japanese (there's one to copy below), ask about sauces and shared cooking oil, and be ready for a restaurant to say it can't promise anything. This page covers the phrases, the Japanese words for common allergens (including the list on Japanese food labels as of 2026), questions to ask, a card to show staff, and where allergens often hide in Japanese food. It's general language help, not medical advice.

A note on audio: the phrase cards and the game use a synthetic voice (VOICEVOX), not recordings of a native speaker. Use them to learn the rhythm, then rely on the written card for anything important.

Say It in One Line: [Food] + Arerugī ga Arimasu

Almost every allergy sentence follows the same pattern: the food, then arerugī. Start with sumimasen to get attention.

Swap ebi for any word in the next section. Two allergies? Join them with to (and): ebi to kani no arerugī ga arimasu, “I'm allergic to shrimp and crab.”

Saying “arerugī” so people understand

アレルギー is a loanword from the German Allergie, so it doesn't sound like the English “allergy.” Say it in five even beats, a-re-ru-gī, with the last vowel held a little longer. If you're not understood, point to the word on your card.

Why “sukoshi demo dame desu” matters

Some people avoid a food because they dislike it or it upsets their stomach, and a kitchen may treat that as “take it off the plate.” Adding sukoshi demo dame desu, “not even a little,” tells staff that traces count too. Only say it if it's true for you.

• すみませんsumimasen · Excuse me! (to call the staff)▶ Listen
• アレルギーが ありますarerugī ga arimasu · I have an allergy▶ Listen
• なまの さかなは たべられませんnama no sakana wa taberaremasen · I can't eat raw fish▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Allergen Words in Japanese: The 9 Required on Food Labels (2026)

Japan's food labeling standard lists foods that packaged foods must show when they're used. On April 1, 2026, cashew nuts were added, so the required list is now nine foods. These are also a good place to start when you speak.

The second column shows alternative spellings that Japan's labeling rules accept on packaged foods, according to the Consumer Affairs Agency's allergen labeling handbook (April 2026). Restaurant menus don't follow a fixed list, so the same food may be written other ways there. On packages, milk usually appears as 乳成分 (nyū seibun, “milk ingredients”) in “contains” notes. Words like 乳化剤 (emulsifier) and 乳酸 (lactic acid) contain the character 乳 but aren't milk.

Packaged foods made before the end of March 2028 can still use the old labels, so you may not see cashew on every package yet.

The 20 “recommended” allergens

A second list of 20 foods is recommended for labeling, not required. A package that doesn't mention sesame, for example, isn't proof that there's no sesame in it.

When the English word doesn't match one Japanese word

• えびebi · Shrimp▶ Listen
• たまごtamago · Egg omelet (usually sweet, always cooked)▶ Listen
• いかika · Squid▶ Listen
• いくらikura · Salmon roe▶ Listen
• サーモンsāmon · Salmon▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Questions to Ask Staff (and What They Might Say Back)

After you've said what you're allergic to, these questions help you check a specific dish.

“Without shrimp” isn't the same as “no shrimp anywhere in the kitchen.” Taking an ingredient off a dish doesn't change the broth, the oil, or the cutting board. Some chain restaurants keep an allergen chart (アレルギー表) for their menu, either in the store or on their website, so it's worth asking.

Answers you might hear

A restaurant may tell you it can't handle your allergy, or that it can't guarantee there's no cross-contact. That's an honest answer, not rudeness. If you hear wakarimasen or taiō dekimasen, it's usually better to choose another dish or another place than to push for a yes. If the answer comes too fast, yukkuri onegaishimasu (“slowly, please”) helps.

• これは なんですかkore wa nan desu ka · What is this?▶ Listen
• もう いちど おねがいしますmō ichido onegaishimasu · Once more, please (say it again)▶ Listen
• ゆっくり おねがいしますyukkuri onegaishimasu · Slowly, please▶ Listen
• はいhai · Yes▶ Listen
• いいえiie · No▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

A Card to Show Staff (Copy This)

A written note is clearer than speech in a noisy restaurant, and it lets staff show the kitchen exactly what you mean. Copy the text below to your phone or print it, and replace 【えび】 with your allergen word from the table above. Translated allergy cards are often called “chef cards.”

Keep only the lines that are true for you. If small amounts or shared oil aren't a problem for you, delete those parts. If you're not sure how strict you need to be, ask your doctor before you travel.

The card uses kanji on purpose. Staff read it faster than spaced-out hiragana. The last line asking them to say “we can't” matters: it makes an honest “no” easy to give.

Before you travel with a serious allergy

• Talk to your own doctor before the trip about eating out abroad.
• If you've been prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector or other medicine, follow your doctor's instructions, and ask them about traveling with it.
• In Japan, the emergency number for an ambulance is 119. きゅうきゅうしゃを よんでください (kyūkyūsha o yonde kudasai) means “Please call an ambulance.”

Several organizations and services offer printed allergy cards in Japanese. Whichever you use, a card helps you communicate. It can't make a kitchen allergen-free.

• アレルギーが ありますarerugī ga arimasu · I have an allergy▶ Listen
• すみませんsumimasen · Excuse me! (to call the staff)▶ Listen
• ありがとう ございますarigatō gozaimasu · Thank you (polite)▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Where Allergens Often Hide in Japanese Food

Some ingredients show up in places visitors don't expect. Recipes differ from shop to shop, so treat this as a list of things to ask about, not a list of what's safe.

At a sushi restaurant

For ordering phrases like “no wasabi” and “less rice,” see how to order sushi in Japanese.

Beyond sushi

• だし (dashi), the broth behind miso soup, noodle soups, and many simmered dishes, is often made from kelp and dried bonito (a fish), and sometimes other dried fish such as sardines or mackerel (さば, on the recommended-allergen list). Miso itself is made from soybeans.
• Tempura and other fried foods use a flour batter, and a shop may fry many different items in the same oil. Ask onaji abura de agete imasu ka.
• Soba shops: Japan's Food Safety Commission notes that buckwheat allergens dissolve in water and hold up under heat, so buckwheat can get into udon boiled in the same pot as soba. At a shop that serves soba, ordering udon may not keep you away from buckwheat.
• Izakaya: many izakaya bring a small starter dish (お通し, otoshi) without you ordering it. Mention your allergy when you sit down, before it arrives.

• しょうゆshōyu · Soy sauce▶ Listen
• たまごtamago · Egg omelet (usually sweet, always cooked)▶ Listen
• いくらikura · Salmon roe▶ Listen
• えびebi · Shrimp▶ Listen

Practice these in the game →

Reading Japanese Food Labels: “一部に〜を含む”

At a convenience store or supermarket, packaged foods list allergens in the ingredient list (原材料名, genzairyō-mei). There are two common ways to write them.

Look for 含む (fukumu), “contains,” and match the words in front of it to the allergen tables above. You may also see a line such as 「本品製造工場では○○を含む製品を生産しています」, “This factory also makes products containing ○○.” It's a recommended warning, not a required one, so its absence doesn't rule out cross-contact. Japanese labels aren't allowed to say just “may contain,” so you won't see that wording.

Restaurants are different

Japan's mandatory allergen labeling covers packaged foods. The Consumer Affairs Agency's handbook on allergen labeling lists what it doesn't cover: food sold without packaging (loose or by weight), food served to eat on the premises (restaurant dishes and restaurant delivery), and alcoholic drinks. If a restaurant sells food in a package, that package does need a label. The Agency asks restaurants and take-out shops to share allergen information voluntarily, for example on menus, on their websites, or through staff training, so some do and some don't. A menu with no allergen marks doesn't mean a dish is allergen-free, and even a menu with marks is worth checking with staff. Ask, and show your card.

FAQ

More sushi-bar Japanese

• How to Order Sushi in Japanese (and Practice Before You Go)
• Japanese Restaurant Phrases: What to Say From the Door to the Check
• Sumimasen Meaning: Excuse Me, Sorry, and Thank You in One Word

Audio is synthesized with VOICEVOX (voice: 冥鳴ひまり), not a recording of a native speaker. Romaji uses macrons for long vowels (ō, ū).