Izakaya
How a Japanese bar bill works
Two beers and a plate of chicken can produce a receipt with five lines on it. Here is what each line means.
You sit down. Before you have ordered anything, a small dish arrives: simmered vegetables, maybe, or a few bites of potato salad. You didn't ask for it. You will pay for it. Welcome to Japan, where the cover charge is edible.
The dish you didn't order
It is called otoshi (お通し), or tsukidashi (突き出し) around Osaka. It comes automatically, one per person, and it goes on the bill. The usual price is a few hundred yen each, and more at smarter bars. Think of it as a seat charge that happens to come with food.
Can you refuse it? Usually no, and sending it back uneaten rarely removes the charge. If it matters to you, ask before you sit: お通しはありますか？ Otoshi wa arimasu ka? “Is there an otoshi?”
The other lines on the receipt
| On the bill | Say it | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| お通し | otoshi | The small dish, charged per person. Izakaya. |
| 席料 | sekiryō | A seat charge with no dish attached. Some izakaya and private rooms. |
| チャージ | chāji | A cover charge. Bars, snack bars, anywhere with a counter and a mood. |
| サービス料 | sābisu-ryō | A percentage added to the whole bill. Hotel bars and upscale places. |
| 深夜料金 | shinya ryōkin | A late-night surcharge that some places add after a set hour. |
| 税込 / 税抜 | zeikomi / zeinuki | Tax included / before tax. Consumption tax is 10 percent when you eat or drink in. |
| 飲み放題 | nomihōdai | All you can drink for a fixed time at a fixed price. Last orders are called before the clock runs out. |
Menus are required to show the tax-included price, but some print the before-tax figure beside it. Look for 税込 next to the number you are trusting.
Build a bill
Change the numbers to see how the lines stack up. Every place sets its own rules, so this is a model of the logic and the starting figures are examples.
お会計
Okaikei · the bill
Food and drink¥4,200
Otoshi × 2¥800
Service 0%¥0
Tax (in prices)included
Total¥5,000
¥2,500 each, split 2 ways
Paying
There is no tipping. Leave coins on the table and someone may chase you down the street to return them.
In most izakaya the bill is a slip left at your table. You carry it to the register by the door and pay there. In a bar, you ask: お会計お願いします Okaikei onegaishimasu. “The bill, please.” Small places are often cash only, so carry some.
Splitting the bill person by person at the register is not always possible. The local habit is warikan (割り勘), an even split: one person pays, and the rest hand over their share.
The one question
Every charge above is fair when the place tells you about it. So ask before you sit down, while leaving is still free.
全部でいくらですか？
Zenbu de ikura desu ka?
“What's the total?”
A place that answers clearly is a place you can relax in. A place that waves the question away has answered it too.
When the bill goes wrong
The bills that make the news nearly always start the same way: somebody followed a street tout. A stranger on the pavement promising a cheap all-you-can-drink deal is working for commission, and the price he quotes is not the price upstairs. Choose your own door.
If a bill looks wrong, stay calm and ask for the breakdown: 明細をお願いします Meisai o onegaishimasu. If you cannot settle it there, the nearest police box (交番, kōban) is the place to take it.