Gluten-Free Tokyo: dedicated restaurants, rice-flour bakeries and sweets, for coeliacs

Where to base yourself

• Asakusa: Tempura Asakusa SAKURA, Shochikuen Cafe and Otaco are all in Taito ward (chapters 1 and 3).
• Kanda: Oh Nana! and Gluten-free Izakaya SHION are in Chiyoda ward (chapter 1).
• Aoyama & Omotesando: L for You, BEYOND SWEETS, RiceHACK and I’m donut? Gluten Free (chapters 1, 2 and 4).
• Nakameguro, Daikanyama & Ebisu: & OIMO TOKYO CAFE, Miller Cake Store, Premium SOW and Yamano Hitsuji; Jiyugaoka Bakery is further out in Meguro ward (chapters 1, 2 and 3).
• Elsewhere: NANAN TOKYO and Alchemy in Azabudai, Biossa in Kasuga (Bunkyo), MASHIKAKU in Osaki (Shinagawa), and the second & OIMO TOKYO shop by Yoyogi Park (chapters 2, 3 and 4).

We haven’t checked a Tokyo hotel kitchen ourselves. When you book, ask the hotel about gluten-free breakfast, and pick a room with a fridge: the rice-flour bakeries in chapter 2 make a good stock-up for breakfast.

The one sentence to say

Show it before ordering, every time, dedicated kitchen or not. Coeliac disease in Japanese is セリアック病, and wheat is 小麦 (komugi).

Two follow-ups that help in Japan. For sauces and broths: 「これに醤油、麦芽、小麦粉、パン粉、固形スープの素は入っていますか？確認していただけますか？」 (“Is there soy sauce, malt, flour, breadcrumbs or stock cubes in this? Could you check?”). For anything fried: 「これは共用のフライヤーや共用の油で揚げましたか？」 (“Was this fried in a shared fryer or shared oil?”)

Good to know

• Japanese labels flag wheat, not gluten. Wheat (小麦) is one of nine allergens that must be declared on packaged food (Consumer Affairs Agency list, April 2026). Barley (大麦) and rye (ライ麦) are on neither the mandatory nor the recommended list, so look for them, and for malt (麦芽), in the ingredients yourself.
• Rice-flour bread is not automatically wheat-free. The Consumer Affairs Agency warns that rice-flour products such as 米粉パン can contain gluten or other wheat ingredients, and tells shoppers to ask the staff at in-store bakeries that have no labels.
• No “may contain” line does not mean no cross-contact. The Agency recommends, but does not require, a warning such as 「本品製造工場では…」 when contamination can’t be ruled out.
• Soy sauce is the classic trap. Almost all shoyu (醤油) is brewed with wheat, and it goes into tare, tsuyu and marinades. Ask for tamari (たまり), and check that label too: not all tamari is wheat-free.
• Soba is usually made with wheat too. Most soba noodles are cut with wheat flour; only juwari soba (十割そば, 100% buckwheat) is made without it. Even then, ask whether the noodles are boiled in their own water: many shops cook every noodle in the same pot.

Sources: HTGF Atlas rows (read 29 September 2026) · the venues’ own websites and pages, read 29 September 2026 · Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁), food allergy labelling page and sheet «アレルギー表示について» (April 2026) · Consumer Affairs Agency leaflet on rice-flour products and wheat allergy (19 June 2015).