You pick up a snack marked ¥298, hand over a ¥300 coin, and the register asks for ¥322. Nothing went wrong — you read the wrong number. Japanese price tags very often carry two prices, and the one printed largest is frequently the pre-tax figure, with the amount you actually pay set underneath in smaller type. It is a two-character fix: learn to spot 税込 (zeikomi) and you will never be surprised at a Japanese register again. Here is how the tags work, why food is taxed at two different rates, and the one question that settles any tag you cannot decode.
Are prices in Japan tax included?
By law the tax-included total has to be on the tag — but it is not always the number printed biggest. Since April 2021 Japan has required 総額表示 (sōgaku hyōji), "total-price display", on anything sold to consumers, so a shop cannot legally show you a pre-tax price alone. What the rule does not say is which figure gets the large type. So drugstores, electronics chains, clothing shops and 100-yen stores routinely print a big, attractive pre-tax number with the real total beside it in half the size: ¥298 in bold, (税込327円) in grey underneath. Supermarkets, convenience stores and vending machines are the reliable ones — what you see there is nearly always the final price. The habit worth building is simple: on any tag with two numbers, the bigger one is decoration and the smaller one is your bill.
What do 税込 and 税抜 mean on a Japanese price tag?
税込 (zeikomi) means "tax included", and that price is final. Its opposites are 税抜 (zeinuki) and 税別 (zeibetsu), both meaning "tax excluded", and you will also see 本体価格 (hontai kakaku), "base price", which is the same thing in longer form. A tag reading 1,000円(税抜) costs you ¥1,100 at the register. The most common layout puts both on one tag — ¥1,100 in large type with (本体1,000円) below, or the reverse — and once you know which word is which, a half-second glance is enough. Two more you will meet: 税込価格 (zeikomi kakaku) is just the full phrase for the total, and お会計 (okaikei) is the bill itself, the word the staff use when they tell you what to pay.
Is Japan's consumption tax 10% or 8%?
Both, depending on what is in your basket. 消費税 (shōhizei), the consumption tax, is 10 percent on almost everything, with a 軽減税率 (keigen zeiritsu), "reduced rate", of 8 percent on food and non-alcoholic drinks you buy to take away, plus newspapers on subscription. Alcohol never gets the reduced rate, and neither does anything consumed on the premises. So a bottle of tea is 8 percent, the beer next to it is 10 percent, and the toothbrush in the same basket is 10 percent — one receipt, two rates, which is why Japanese receipts flag the 8 percent lines with a mark such as ※ and total each rate separately. One change is coming that is worth knowing about if you are planning a trip further out: in August 2026 the Cabinet approved a plan to cut the food and drink rate from 8 percent to 1 percent for two years from April 2027. It still has to clear the Diet, so until then, 8 percent is what you will be charged.
Why does the konbini ask if you are eating in?
Because your answer changes the tax rate on what you are holding. Eating at the shop's own counter counts as 外食 (gaishoku), "dining out", which is taxed at 10 percent, while carrying the identical item out the door keeps the 8 percent reduced rate. The question you will hear is 店内でお召し上がりですか (tennai de omeshiagari desu ka), "will you be eating in?" — sometimes shortened to イートインですか (īto in desu ka). Answer 持ち帰りです (mochikaeri desu), "taking it away", or 店内で食べます (tennai de tabemasu), "eating here". On a ¥500 bento the gap is about ¥10, so this is a rounding error rather than a decision — answer honestly and sit down if you want to sit down. If the rest of the konbini script is still a blur, our guide to what to say in a Japanese convenience store covers the other questions the cashier fires at you.
Do restaurant menus in Japan include tax?
Usually yes — but the tax is not always the last thing added to your bill. Menus fall under the same total-display rule, so the number beside the dish should be the tax-included price, though some restaurants still lead with 税抜 figures and print the total in the footnotes. What genuinely catches visitors out is everything that is not tax: izakaya almost always add a per-person charge called お通し (otōshi) or 席料 (sekiryō), usually ¥300 to ¥700, which turns up as a small dish nobody ordered, and hotel restaurants often add a 10 percent サービス料 (sābisu ryō), service charge. None of that is a scam, and none of it is a tip — you can read why in our guide to tipping in Japan. Check the bottom of the menu once when you sit down and you will know the shape of the bill before you order.
How do you ask if a price includes tax in Japanese?
Point at the tag and say これは税込ですか (kore wa zeikomi desu ka), "is this tax included?" It takes a yes or no, and most staff will simply turn the register display towards you, which settles it without any more Japanese. For a whole basket, 全部でいくらですか (zenbu de ikura desu ka), "how much is it altogether?", works in any shop in the country. Both are polite as they stand, and opening with すみません (sumimasen) makes them warmer. If you want the paperwork afterwards — useful when you are tracking spending, or claiming anything back — our reel on asking for a receipt has that phrase, and the receipt itself breaks out the 8 and 10 percent totals for you.
So: find 税込, ignore the big number, and remember that food you carry out is cheaper than food you sit down with. Two more things are worth lining up before a shopping day. If you are spending over ¥5,000 in one shop, the tax can come off entirely — see how to shop tax-free in Japan. And before you plan to put it all on plastic, check whether you can pay by card in Japan, because plenty of good places are still cash only. For more phrases that make a Japanese counter easy, browse all our travel reels.