Japan quietly runs two food prices. Ask for the same sandwich "to go" and it's 8%; say you'll eat it at the counter and it jumps to 10%. It's not the shop being sneaky — it's the national reduced tax rate (keigen zeiritsu) written into law. Mio doesn't guess; Mio reads the rule and answers the cashier's question on purpose. Here's exactly how it works.
Japan's National Tax Agency (NTA) sets the reduced 8% rate for "food and drink" excluding alcohol, plus qualifying newspapers. Everything else stays at the standard 10%. The catch is one big carve-out: "eating out" (gaishoku) and catering are NOT part of the 8% reduced rate.
The NTA defines "eating out" as a food-business operator serving you a meal at a place equipped for eating and drinking (tables, counters, chairs — inshoku setsubi). So the deciding question isn't what you buy — it's where you'll eat it. Take it away from those facilities and you're back to the 8% reduced rate.
| Situation | Rate | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Onigiri / bento bought to take away | 8% | Takeout of food = reduced rate |
| Same onigiri eaten at the convenience-store eat-in corner | 10% | Consumed at the shop's facilities = "eating out" |
| Restaurant / café meal at a table | 10% | Classic eating out |
| Coffee "to go" in a paper cup | 8% | Takeout |
| Coffee served "for here" in the café | 10% | Eating out |
| Beer, wine, sake, chū-hi (any alcohol) | 10% | Alcohol is excluded from 8%, always |
| Non-alcoholic drink / water / juice from a shop, to go | 8% | Food & drink excluding alcohol |
| Pizza / sushi delivered to your home | 8% | Delivery = takeout, not eating out |
| Catering — chef cooks/serves at your place or venue | 10% | Catering is explicitly excluded, like eating out |
| Snack + toy combo, ≤ ¥10,000 & food is ≥ ⅔ of value | 8% | Qualifying "combined goods" (ittai shisan) |
| Combo over ¥10,000, or where the toy is the main value | 10% | Fails the combined-goods test → whole thing is 10% |
Illustrative. Where a case is genuinely borderline, the seller's classification and the NTA guidance govern — ask at the register if unsure.
This one catches locals too. A konbini sells the same onigiri at 8% if you carry it out — but if the store has an eat-in space and you'll use it, that same purchase is 10%, because eating it there counts as "eating out." Shops handle this by asking at the register whether you'll eat in, and some post signs asking customers who use the eat-in corner to declare it. If you're taking it away, you're honestly at 8% — just answer accordingly.
The reduced rate is for food and drink excluding alcohol. "Alcohol" here follows Japan's Liquor Tax Act definition — broadly, beverages of 1% alcohol by volume or more. So beer, wine, sake, whisky, and canned chū-hi are 10% whether you drink them at a bar or carry them home from a supermarket. A non-alcoholic beer or a cooking mirin that isn't classed as liquor can fall under 8% — but anything that's legally sake-rui (liquor) is 10%, full stop. Buying groceries? Your beer rings up at 10% while the rest of the basket is 8%.
These sound similar but split apart. Plain delivery or takeout — pizza dropped at your door, a bento picked up, sushi delivered — is still just handing you food to eat elsewhere, so it stays at 8%. Catering (keitaringu) is when the operator goes to a place you designate and cooks, heats, plates, or serves there — that added on-site service makes it "eating out," so it's 10%. Rule of thumb: if someone comes to serve you, it's 10%; if they just deliver food, it's 8%.
What about a snack box that includes a toy, sold for one price? The NTA calls this "combined goods" (ittai shisan) — food plus non-food pre-packaged as a single item with a single price. It qualifies for the 8% reduced rate only if both: (1) the tax-excluded price is ¥10,000 or less, and (2) the food portion is two-thirds (⅔) or more of the total value. If it's pricier than ¥10,000, or the toy/non-food is the main value, the whole thing is taxed at 10%. That's why a cheap candy-with-toy is 8%, but a premium gift set built around the object can be 10%.
Decide before you pay. If you're taking food away, say so — you're entitled to 8%. Only expect 10% when you'll actually eat on the premises, when it's a served restaurant meal, when it's alcohol, or when it's catering. Two percent sounds tiny, but on daily lunches and a monthly grocery run it adds up. Mio's habit: mentally tag every food purchase "eat here (10%) or take away (8%)?" and answer the register honestly — the cheaper rate is often the true one.
Related reading: Japan's resident-tax shock → and understand your Japanese payslip →.
Mio