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4.10.2012

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The Ultimate Guide to Reading Food Labels in Japan

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When I first came to Japan, attempting to read food labels and understand what things were and what was IN what I was buying and eating was a huge obstacle. I could read hiragana, katakana and some kanji, but the majority of the food labels were confusing and I spent extensive amounts of time at the supermarket, smartphone in hand with a Japanese-English dictionary open, trying to decipher ingredients and information. I'd also use the smartphone app, ShinKanji, to search for various kanji and words I couldn't read. The work paid off, and though now I can't read every single Japanese word without consulting a J-E dictionary or looking up certain kanji, I can usually quickly scan most labels to find what I want to know. A guide to reading food labels in Japan is also one of the most popular post topic requests I've received. It's something most of us struggle with when we first arrive, and I'd imagine even some of those who are fluent may not have known every word or kanji at first. Deciphering Japanese food labels, the entirety of them anyway, isn't particularly easy, but I've attempted to break them down for you here. Note that I have not covered various ingredients aside from common allergens, as that's something to cover in a separate post (or more than one). This one is already long! I should note that food labels in Japan aren't always consistent, as you'll see below, and although, for example, you'll usually see information about the total calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates and similar main nutrients, you won't always see much about other minerals or vitamins (though things like fortified cereals, breads, etc., often list these). I've also tried to include a variety of words you'll see, but some terms/phrases are worded slightly different, although the meaning is generally the same, e.g., "" and "" both mean "best before; best eaten by" or the expiration date. Also note that throughout the post I have not broken down kanji and words as I normally do - instead, the

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vocabulary charts break them down, so please reference the charts for a breakdown. (You can also use the "find" feature on your browser and copy/paste a word you want to see in the chart to find it quickly.) So let's get on with it: how do you read food labels in Japan? Click any of the links below to go to that section. After each section is a "back to top" link. Japanese Food Label Vocabulary Chart Japanese Nutritional Information Vocabulary Chart How to Understand the Nutritional Information List on a Food Label How to Understand the Rest of the Food Label How to Read Food Labels on Imported Goods Meat and Seafood Labels Fruit and Vegetable Labels Allergy Information on Food Labels

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Japanese Food Label Vocabulary Chart

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Kanji

Hiragana

Romaji shuruibetsumeishou meishou shuruibetsu shurui

English (item/type of product) name (item/type of product) name classification type/category

Where/how you'll see it At the beginning of a label Same as above. + or " " to mean "classification" Usually at the top/beginning of a label Same as above.
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shouhinmei hinmei

product name product name

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shouhin

goods

+ or " " to mean goods/brand name Somewhere right after "" or " " Under , but sometimes elsewhere or the quantity of that item or the quantity of that item Usually a date is listed, but sometimes they might say "on the side of the box" or something like that in Japanese Same as above Listed after the above information. or "preservation method"

genzairyoumei

"raw materials" or ingredients

naiyouryou

quantity

naiyou

contents/ substance

ryou

quantity

shoumikigen

best eaten by/expiration date

shouhikigen

best before/consume by/expiration date how to store (after opening) preservation

hozonhouhou

hozon

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houhou

method

or "preservation method" Listed at the top of the nutritional information section Same as above

shuyoueiyouseibun

(main) nutritional information nutritional information nutritional information list

eiyouseibun

eiyouseibunhyouji

Same as above

shuyou

main

or "nutritional value/nutrition facts" or "nutritional value/nutrition facts" or "nutritional value/nutrition facts" or "nutrition facts" Used to indicate where an item is from This is typically listed on imported products. This is usually listed

eiyou

nutrition

seibun

ingredients

hyouji

list/chart production center/growing area/origin country of origin

sanchi

gensankokumei

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kokusan

domestically produced

on domestic products. On signs in the store, product labels, etc., you'll see the name of a place plus to indicate where the product is from. On seafood/meat/things that are cut/butchered You might see this on fish/seafood Often seen on the label for seafood/meat if it was previously frozen On seafood/meat On seafood/meat

san

origin

kakounengappi

processed date

youshoku

farmed

kaitou

"thawed" or previously frozen

kanetsuyou sashimiyou

add heat (cook before eating) can be used for sashimi

namashokuyou

can be eaten raw/fresh On seafood/meat On seafood or meats that have been seasoned (this is easy to tell

ajitsuke

seasoned

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just by looking though) jidori atari hako free range "per" or "for" box On chicken 1 (100g) or "per 1 box (100 g)" 1 (100g) or "per 1 box (100 g)" 1 (100ml) or "per 1 pack (100ml)"

pakku

pack

, , -hon, -bon, -pon ko

counter for 1 (53g) long, cylindrical objects general counter 1 (100g) or "per 1 box (100 g)"

Back to top

Japanese Nutritional Information Vocabulary Chart

The following information is listed on the "nutritional information chart" or "nutrition facts." Usually mentions calories, and basic nutrients. Occasionally, various vitamins and minerals will be listed.

Japanese

Hiragana

Romaji
enerugii netsuryou tanpakushitsu

English
food "energy" or calories calories protein

Notes

Can also be seen as " " or ""

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tansuikabutsu natoriumu shishitsu karushiumu

carbohydrates sodium fat calcium Sugar is also "," which is commonly used for sugar under the ingredients section

tourui

sugar

tetsu aen yousan shokumotsuseni

iron zinc folic acid dietary fiber The kanji for fiber can be listed other ways too. Products that add vitamins such as cereal or some breads will list vitamins under the ingredients with the corresponding vitamin (such as B, C, etc.)

__

bitamin

vitamin __

amount of shokuentousouryou table salt

Back to top

How to understand the nutritional information list on a food label

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The following is an example of some organic ketchup (or catsup, or whatever you might call it where you're from). The top row in the outlined box says "," which means "nutritional information list" but essentially can be thought of as "nutrition facts" or "nutritional information." To the right of that you can see (100g), which in this case means "per 100g." So the information and numbers listed in the chart are for every 100g (100g is the "serving size," basically). "" can also be listed as "" or "." Next is the total calories, which in this picture is listed as "", but can also be seen as "". For 100g of this ketchup, that means 89kcal, or 89 calories. Most labels similar to this type will then list total protein (), fat (), carbohydrates (), and sodium (), and some will list sugar, but many count sugar under the "carbohydrate" category and don't always split them so you can see how much of the carbs are sugars. It varies though. On this bottle, sugar is listed (), as is lycopene () and the amount of table salt (). Just to reiterate, you won't see these latter nutrients on every label.

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Let's go over another example, shall we? Below you'll see a small box of soy milk (individual size). The "nutrition facts" this time is "," which means "nutritional information." The amounts listed are for the entire box, which is 200ml, as it says "1 (200ml)." Again we see "" for calories, and protein (), fat (), carbohydrates (), and sodium (), but there are a few more nutrients listed: calcium (), magnesium ( ), iron (), zinc (), lecithin (), cholesterol (), and isoflavones ( ).

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Next, let's look at the nutritional information on a container of yogurt. Again we see "" for the nutritional info, and (100g), meaning the amounts listed are per 100g of yogurt. This time, calories is listed as "" instead of "". This is followed by protein (), fat (), carbohydrates (), sodium () and calcium (). On the right hand side, under (, kanyo seibun, "included ingredients"), this particular brand lists the estimated number of the good bacteria strains (the italicized names).

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Finally, let's briefly look at this granola label. I've covered the basics above, and as you can see, there are more vitamins and minerals listed. I've listed the corresponding English translation to the Japanese words directly to the left of each word (with the exception of the serving/milk info, which are the headers of the second two columns). You'll also see that carbohydrates () is divided into sugars () and dietary fiber () you won't see this all the time).

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Back to top

How to Understand the Rest of the Food Label

Now that we've looked at how to read the nutritional information on food labels, let's examine another section that's included on a variety of food products, especially anything packaged. Below, on this bottle of ginger ale, you can see the nutrition facts in the top section, similar to what we've covered above, plus the calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium information. Underneath that is information regarding the item or product name (), ingredients (), quantity (), best eaten by date (), how to store the product (), and the company/distributor info () (all are indicated by corresponding numbers in the image).

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Let's go back to our yogurt example. On the other side of the package we see more information for this particular yogurt (and information on different brands of yogurt labels varies). The info is indicated by corresponding numbers in the image below, but we can find the type of the product (), the percentage of non-fat milk solids in this container (), the percentage of milk fat (), the ingredients (), quantity (), best eaten by date () (this actually says it's printed on the right side of the container), and storage information ().

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Back to top

How to Read Food Labels on Imported Goods

Let's take a look at a different kind of food label. The following is from some imported barbecue chips. At the very top is the brand name and item name (Good Health Avocado Oil Potato Chips - Barcelona BBQ). After that, as indicated by the numbers, we have the item name (type of product) (), the ingredients (), the quantity (), the best eaten by information (), storage information (), country of origin (), and the importer ().

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Here's another example of an imported item: mozzarella cheese from Australia. On the very top is the type of product (Australian mozzarella), this time labeled as "". Next is the type of item or "classification" (), which is "natural cheese." Then we see the ingredients (), quantity (), best by (), how to store (), country of origin (), and company information.

The following label is much more simple, and is again an imported product (raspberries) but we got this from our local supermarket. On top is the product name (), followed by the (unlabeled) quantity ( ), the production area (), or, where the berries are from, and storage information ().

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), the production area (), or, where the berries are from, and storage information ().

Back to top

Meat and Seafood Labels

These labels vary a bit depending on the store, but in general, you'll probably see the following information, or something similar. Below you'll see salmon, with the label items numbered and the translations of the corresponding words at the bottom of the picture (Numbers are to the left of or directly above). First is the origin, in this case it's Chile, followed by the name (number 2), which says "trout salmon for sashimi use." Sashimi use ()

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is one you might see on different types of seafood. Number 3 (white on black) indicates the fish is farmed (), while 4 tells us the salmon was previously frozen or "thawed" (). Number 5 is the date the fish was processed () and 6 lets us know when we should have devoured this fish by (). Number 7 is the cost per 100g, 8 is the total weight (), 9 is the storage information () and 10 is the total price.

Not let's look at chicken. The label is pretty similar to the salmon, and it includes the standard information such as date processed (), expiration date (), price per 100g, total quantity (), storage information () and price. The top differs slightly, and as this is a domestic product, it labels the prefecture () plus "." Directly to the right it says "," which means it's a domestic product. Then it lists what it is (chicken breast) and also that it's a bargain product (number 3).

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product. Then it lists what it is (chicken breast) and also that it's a bargain product (number 3).

You might see some other words used next to the name or in the part where the black box is on meat or seafood labels (seafood in particular). A couple examples: Must add heat or "" (must be cooked before eating/not to be eaten raw) is in the black box in the following image.

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This octopus can be used for sashimi, as indicated by "" in the black box in the upper right hand corner.

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Back to top

Fruit and Vegetable Labels

Japan seems to have an obsession with plastic, as most items tend to be wrapped, and sometimes wrapped again, multiple times. When I first arrived in Japan, I put unwrapped produce in my basket as I had done in the States (I know not everyone does this, but I was used to shopping that way and not using tons of plastic). But every time I got to the register, the cashier put all the items in plastic bags anyway. So, whether the item is packaged or not (as the items in the image below are), there will usually be information on the sign regarding the item name, where it's from, the price and sometimes other info. The following two items, a lemon and some ginger, indicate where they are from (California, USA [ ] and Kochi prefecture [], respectively) and the product names ( and ). The lemon label also says it is additive-free (, , mutenka) and the ginger says it's organic (, , yuuki).

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Back to top

Allergy Information on Food Labels

You might notice some allergy information on packaged items for some top food allergens: eggs, milk, wheat, soba, peanuts, shrimp and crab. It might look something like the table below (outlined in red). The circles mean that this particular item contains those allergens, which in this case is milk (), eggs () and wheat (). The notice directly underneath it says that they also process shrimp () and crab () at that particular facility, similar to the peanut notices on items in the US.

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This is another example of allergy information on a food label. The red box (outlined by me) tells us that this product (granola) contains milk (), wheat () and soy (). The blue outlined box (also by me), towards the top says that the factory also process eggs () and peanuts ().

Some common food allergens in Japan (note that this doesn't include all possible allergens):

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Japanese
() ( or ) () () () () () ()

Romaji
tamago chichi or nyuu komugi soba rakkasei ebi kani arabi ika ikura orenji kiuifuruutsu gyuuniku kurumi sake saba daizu keiniku butaniku matsutake momo yamaimo

English
egg milk/dairy* wheat soba (buckwheat) peanuts/tree nuts** shrimp crab abalone squid salmon roe orange kiwi beef walnuts sake mackerel soy/soybean*** chicken**** pork matsutake mushrooms peach Japanese yam

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ringo zerachin banana

apple gelatin banana

*Dairy/cow milk is (), but by itself the "nyuu" part (also read chichi) refers to "milk," and in this context, dairy milk. **The word "peanuts" is also commonly listed as . ***Chicken is also toriniku (, ). ****Soy milk is (, tounyuu). And for those of your with food allergies such as dairy/wheat/gluten/soy, look for an upcoming guest post on that! Back to top As for prepared food/deli food, most of the above information should help you out, but they also typically list the time they were prepared. More on that later. We'll continue this theme in a later post to go over ingredients and such, but as this one took me quite a long time, it won't pop up in your inbox or feed reader for a little while. What's that? Not subscribed to the helpful Surviving in Japan feed? Click the "RSS" or "email" links directly below this paragraph to get regular updates. You'll be glad you did! (You might also want to check out the Surviving in Japan Facebook page for useful updates and fun discussions, or the @survivingnjapan Twitter account for relevant news, information, how-to's, guides, fun stuff and other important "living in Japan" links.)

What next? Subscribe for free updates: via RSS or email

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Posted by Ashley Ciara Thompson Labels: Daily Life, food

23 comments Leave a message...

Newest Community Michael McCoy
17 days ago

Well done, Ashley. Can I just add for everyone's benefit that choumiryou (aminosan nado) lit. 'flavour enhancer (amino acid etc.)' is Big Food speak here for monosodium glutamate (DE mononatrium glutamat) or E621 to Europeans. Look for the (amino). MSG is pretty ubiquitous in prepared foods, snacks and sauces, etc.

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Michael McCoy 14 days ago

Thanks Michael. Yes, MSG and there are several other ingredients that health-conscious folks or people with allergies/health concerns should know (high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, among others). Thanks for mentioning.

Aya Montes

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a month ago

Thank you for this! :)

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Aya Montes a month ago

You're welcome! :)

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Christina Anderson

5 months ago

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Awesome! Thank you for putting this together for us. While I will probably struggle with not knowing what I'm eating to some extent, this will help us in our search for organic produce and animal proteins to puree and feed to our 7month-old daughter. We've been struggling with this for the couple weeks we've been in Japan, and have resorted to avocado (on the "Clean 15" list), organic pastured desccated liver capsules mixed into food, and organic prepared baby foods. I'm after she wakes up from her nap, I'm excited to head to the store with my new info! for at least three more months, and your article will make our shopping excursions so much easier!

Nikko

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6 months ago

I'm just starting to read labels for health reasons etc. and this article is PERFECT! Thank you so so so much! KUDOS :D

emma

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7 months ago

THANK YOU SO FREAKIN MUCH T_T

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emma 7 months ago

You're welcome! :D

kitsuki

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a year ago

This is soooo useful!! again you're a lifesaver! I was so worried about how to read the labels!!

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kitsuki a year ago

You're very welcome! Thanks so much for the kind words and for reading!

Iwakuni Nutrition

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a year ago

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Wonderful! Thanks for the information, it's perfect! I am a Registered Dietitian practicing in Japan; may I use this information with my clients? It would help in convincing them to try grocery shopping off of the military base.

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Iwakuni Nutrition a year ago

You're so welcome! Yes, please feel free to use it. If you share it or print it out, all I ask is that you put "Surviving in Japan" and http://www.survivingnjapan.com somewhere on the page, but otherwise I hope the info will be useful for your clients!

Jessica St-Pierre

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a year ago

Thank you so much for this article. I was wondering if you have any idea if sulfites have to be listed on packaging in Japan? I have developed intolerances to sulfites and to a few other additives which thankfully aren't allowed there since my last visit in Japan and am thinking of moving there for a year... It would be really helpful to see this listed!

fred T

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a year ago

very thinks for this prescious article , i think , if you write a book ( a little one for took it in the pocket ) i will buy it !!! and if it s in french it will better ... :-) wathever , this article really help me , think you very much
1

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a year ago

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Anna H.

Dear Ashley, As always you do such a terrific job.

yoriemi

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a year ago

Thanks Ashley. This is exactly what I need.

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yoriemi a year ago

You're welcome! Thanks so much for the feedback.

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Rafo

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a year ago

A lot of useful information. Thank you. BTW, you might want to correct your reading for at the end of the first table/chart: .

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Rafo a year ago

Thanks for the comment and kind words. Also thanks for pointing out the correction - it's interesting because the dictionary says altogether it's read with "shio" instead of "en", though I thought that seemed a little strange since table salt is shokuen.

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a year ago

Sara-elly Shimabukuro

Ashley, this is an amazing piece of work ! otsukare and thanks A LOT

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Sara-elly Shimabukuro a year ago

Thank you so much for the kind words Sara-elly! You're very welcome. :)

Haikugirl 1

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a year ago

This is incredible. I wish I'd had this 4 years ago!!

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Haikugirl a year ago

Ashley

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Thank you, Ali!

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