Print or screenshot the card you need before you go out. Six cards in English and Japanese.
A restaurant at eight in the evening has no time for a conversation about ingredients, and a phrase you have practised may not survive the noise. A card in Japanese, held up before you order, ends the question in five seconds.
This is the one place on this site where Japanese matters more than English, because the person reading it is Japanese. Everywhere else, short English works better than awkward Japanese — here, the writing does the work for you.
Each card is in English and Japanese. Screenshot the ones you need before you travel, so they work with no signal — or use the print button below.
Also no ham, bacon, sausage, pork stock or lard.
ハム・ベーコン・ソーセージ・豚のだし・ラードも含みます
Also no beef stock or beef fat.
牛のだし・牛脂も含みます
Also no cooking sake, mirin or alcohol in sauces, if possible.
料理酒・みりん・ソースのお酒も、できれば避けたいです
Cooked fish and cooked meat are fine.
火が通っていれば大丈夫です
This is an allergy. Even a small amount is a problem.
アレルギーです。少量でも危険です
No meat, no fish, and no fish stock (dashi) if possible.
肉・魚・魚のだし（かつおだし）も避けたいです
Hold it up on your phone screen — it works exactly as well as paper.
Convenience store and supermarket food has the ingredients printed on the label. Photograph the label and use a translation app if you are unsure.