Sector Guide · Bars and Restaurants
English Google Maps and AI Checklist for Foreigner-Facing Bars and Restaurants in Tokyo
Visitors and residents use Google Maps to choose where to eat and drink, and some now ask AI for "a bar with an English menu near Shibuya".
If your menu and listing are in Japanese only, those English searches may not match you.
General information, not legal advice. We are not lawyers, and we don't check food safety, allergens or diet claims.
Looking for a table? We can't book for you; please contact the restaurant directly.
Menu prices and ads in Japan fall under Japan's general advertising law (景品表示法) and the rule on showing tax-included prices (消費税法 第63条).
We work only with ordinary restaurants and bars. We don't take on 風俗営業 businesses, nightclubs or adult businesses.
For questions about your own menus, prices or ads, ask a lawyer or a tax accountant.
The Short Answer
Make your English facts complete and consistent:
- What you serve, with an English menu
- Prices, with tax included
- Hours, last orders and closed days
- How to book, and whether you take walk-ins
- Payment methods
- Where you are and how to find the entrance
Keep every claim factual.
Your Google profile, your English menu and your Japanese pages should say the same thing.
Not sure where you stand? Get a free snapshot or see a sample snapshot.
How Guests Search for a Place to Eat or Drink
Guests may search by area, food and language. Example searches (written by us for illustration, not taken from any data):
- "Izakaya with an English menu near Shinjuku Station" on Google Maps.
- "Where can I eat vegan ramen in Shibuya tonight?" in ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode.
- "Quiet bar in Ebisu with English-speaking staff" in Gemini.
If your listing and menu are in Japanese only, those English searches may not match you.
Key Takeaway
The answer depends on the facts the assistant can find about each place.
Why It Matters
- In a Japan web survey of people in their 20s to 50s, about a third (33.7%) said they regularly use AI tools and had used one to choose a restaurant. Source: 訪日ラボ (honichi.com), survey of 2026-09-07 to 09-09, published 2026-10-01. 483 people answered the main survey; the article does not say how many people the 33.7% is based on, or the respondents' nationality or place of residence.
- In one large study outside Japan, AI answers about local businesses named about 2 to 4 businesses on average. Source: BrightLocal, local AI visibility study (September 2026) and directory sources article (August 2026; same data; US, UK and Australia, not Japan).
- 52.3% of people in Japan aged 15 to 69 use generative AI to search. Source: CyberAgent GEO Lab, Japan survey, August 2026 (n=9,278).
Key Takeaway
If your English facts are thin, the answer may name someone else or get your details wrong.
The Facts AI and Guests Look For
| Fact | Where It Should Appear | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Business Name | Google profile | The real-world name, in one script only. No extra words such as "English Menu" or "Best Izakaya": Google doesn't allow unnecessary information or service details in the name |
| Menu | Website, Google menu | An English menu with dish names, main ingredients and photos of real dishes |
| Prices | Website, menu | The tax-included total, the same in English and Japanese. If there is a seat, table or service charge (お通し, 席料, サービス料), say so next to the prices |
| Hours | Google profile, website | Last orders and closed days, plus holiday hours, the same everywhere |
| Booking | Google booking link, website | How to book in English, and whether you take walk-ins |
| Diet and Allergens | Website, menu | What you can and can't adjust. Allergen and diet details come from you and your kitchen |
| Payment | Google profile, website | Cards, cash and other payment methods you take |
| Location | Google profile, website | Nearest station exit, floor and a photo of the entrance |
Rules for Prices, Food and Alcohol
| Rule | Do | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Menu Prices Show the Totalsource 1 | If your business pays consumption tax, you must show prices to consumers with tax included, the same total in English and Japanese. Our advice: if there is a seat, table or service charge (お通し, 席料, サービス料), say so next to the prices. | — |
| Discounts and "Usual" Pricessource 2 | As a rule, only cross out a "usual" price you really charged for most of the 8 weeks before the offer. Treat English menus, posts and profile text like Japanese ones: the law is not limited to ads in Japanese. | Prices that look much more favorable than they are: the law bans it. A "usual" price you charged only briefly or long ago. |
| Allergens and Dietssource 3 | Know that the mandatory allergen labels cover packaged food, not dishes you serve at your tables, and give allergen information anyway, as the Consumer Affairs Agency encourages. Ask your local health center (保健所) about packaged food you sell to take away: it can fall under those labels. Make sure allergen and diet details (vegan, halal, gluten-free) are true: they come from you and your kitchen. | — |
| Alcoholsource 4 | Take steps such as age checks: the legal drinking age in Japan is 20, and places that serve alcohol must take them. | Ads that appeal to under-20s or use models under 20: the drinks industry's own ad code bars them (an industry rule, not a law). Our advice: posts and photos with anyone who may look under 20, and pushing heavy drinking. |
Sources for This Section (4)
- 消費税法 第63条.
- 景品表示法 第5条第2号; Consumer Affairs Agency, 不当な価格表示についての景品表示法上の考え方 (last revised 2016-04-01).
- 食品表示基準 第1条, 第3条; Consumer Affairs Agency, 外食・中食での食物アレルギーについて.
- 二十歳未満ノ者ノ飲酒ノ禁止ニ関スル法律 第1条 (the law: age checks); 飲酒に関する連絡協議会, 酒類の広告・宣伝及び酒類容器の表示に関する自主基準 (industry code, not a law; last revised 2026-07-01).
Key Takeaway
Tax-included prices with any seat charge shown, and true allergen and diet details from your kitchen.
Rules for Your Profile, Reviews and Photos
| Rule | Do | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Google Profile Limits | Keep the description to 750 characters, about your place, not promotions or prices. | Links in the description. See our English Google profile guide. |
| Reviewssource 1 | Ask every guest the same way for honest feedback, with no reward: no free drinks, no discounts, no gifts, no staff quotas, and never only the happy guests. Thank reviewers in general terms. | Paying for or rewarding reviews: Google's rules ban it, and a rewarded review can also count as your own advertising (ステマ規制). Confirming that someone was a guest. |
| We never suggest drinks, discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews. | ||
| Guest and Staff Photossource 2 | Use only photos you took or have the rights to, such as your own dish photos. | Guest or staff photos without their consent: a photo in which a person can be identified is personal information under Japan's privacy law. |
Sources for This Section (2)
- Google, Maps contribution policy; ステマ規制 (stealth-marketing rule), in force since 2023-10-01; Consumer Affairs Agency, Japan (stealth marketing Q&A).
- Personal Information Protection Commission, general guidelines (通則編) 2-1.
Key Takeaway
No rewards for reviews, and no guest or staff photos without their consent.
How We Work With Bars and Restaurants
- What We Do
- We keep your English facts, menu photos, hours and review replies right.
- That includes categories, services, attributes, hours and holiday hours, and a description in English and Japanese.
- It also includes up to 10 of your photos with captions, with no guest in them who hasn't agreed, and replies to your reviews, in the reviewer's language.
- With the monthly retainer, we draft one English FAQ or service page a month for your website: menu basics, booking, payment, how to find you.
- We work only with ordinary restaurants and bars.
- Our AI work is in English. The Japanese side is limited to your Maps listing.
- What We Don't Do
- We don't publish anything until you approve it: profile text, pages and reply templates.
- We don't check or certify allergens, halal or other diet claims, and we don't give legal or tax advice.
- We don't take on 風俗営業 businesses under the Entertainment Businesses Act, such as places where staff entertain (接待) guests while they eat or drink, very dimly lit bars, or bars with small closed-off booths (風営法 第2条第1項第1号-第3号, 第3項).
- We also don't take on nightclubs that serve alcohol after midnight (特定遊興飲食店営業, 第2条第11項) or adult businesses.
- We work with Manager access to your Google profile, never your password.
See Services for prices and terms, what Step 1 and the monthly retainer include, and the work guarantee.
Common Questions
Can We Give a Free Drink for a Google Review?
No. Google's rules ban rewards for reviews, and a rewarded review can count as your own advertising in Japan.
Ask every guest the same way for honest feedback, with nothing in return.
Do Prices in Our English Menu Need to Include Tax?
If your business pays consumption tax, prices you show to consumers must include it (消費税法 第63条).
Show the same tax-included total in English and Japanese.
Can You Write Our Allergen Information?
No. Allergen and diet details come from you and your kitchen. We don't check or certify them.
Can You Promise More Guests?
No. Nobody can honestly promise guest numbers or a place in AI answers.
We guarantee the work, not the result, and we report how often AI names you out of a stated number of answers. See how we measure.
Do You Work With Hostess Bars or Similar Places?
No. Places where staff entertain guests are 風俗営業, and we don't take them on. We also don't work with nightclubs or adult businesses.
General information, not legal advice.
See What AI Says About Your Place
Send your business name and Google Maps link. We ask ChatGPT and Google's AI two questions an English-speaking guest would ask and check your listing. Free, no obligation. More: Who We Help, FAQ, and the full guide.
