Is Japanese Beer Gluten Free? A Guide to Alcohol in Japan

Is alcohol in Japan gluten free? A quick table

First, here are the drinks you will most often see at restaurants and bars in Japan.

Before you use this table, there is one thing you should know. In Japan, a can or bottle of alcohol may tell you nothing about wheat.

Why Japanese alcohol has no allergen labels

Packaged food in Japan must show allergens such as wheat, egg and milk. Alcoholic drinks are an exception. (For other foods that are not covered, see Japan’s allergen labeling rules.) Under Japan’s Food Labeling Standards, alcohol does not even have to list its ingredients.

In practice, you can check the ingredients of many drinks. Beer lists its ingredients under the fair competition code for beer labeling. Sake (seishu) lists them under the National Tax Agency’s labeling standards for sake.

Even so, because alcohol has no allergen labeling duty, you will usually not see the note that packaged food carries: “(contains wheat).” If a white beer lists “wheat,” it is there as one of the ingredients, not as an allergy warning.

This may surprise visitors from abroad. In the EU and the UK, alcohol can skip the full ingredient list, but allergens must be shown, for example “Contains: Barley.” In Canada, packaged beer must show wheat, barley and similar grains. Australia and New Zealand also require allergen labels on alcohol. However, wheat and barley in beer and spirits are exempt there. The United States is closer to Japan: allergen labels on alcohol are voluntary for now, and a proposed rule to require them was published in 2025.

At a restaurant, you will rarely see the bottle or can at all. Draft beer comes from the tap. Shochu and sake come in a glass or a small flask. So at a restaurant, you need to ask rather than look for a label.

For how countries define the “gluten free” label itself, see what “gluten free” means in Japan.

Is Japanese beer gluten free? Beer, happoshu and non-alcoholic beer

Under Japan’s liquor tax law, beer is a drink with 50% or more malt. Happoshu has less malt, or uses extra ingredients that beer is not allowed to use. Since October 2023, the so-called “new genre” or “third beer” is also counted as happoshu by law. Most of these drinks use barley malt or a grain spirit (from barley or wheat). Some use no malt at all and are made from bean protein or similar. But even for a product with no wheat or barley, the label does not tell you about cross-contact (traces picked up during production), such as from a shared production line. Check the ingredient list.

If you have a wheat allergy, watch out for white beer. Beers in the style of Belgian white ale or German weizen use wheat as well as barley. For example, one Japanese white ale lists “malt (barley malt, wheat malt), hops, wheat, …” in its ingredients. Craft beer bars often have beers like this on the menu.

Most non-alcoholic beer also uses malt. For example, Suntory All-Free is made from malt, hops and other ingredients. Asahi Dry Zero uses no malt. It is made from dietary fiber, soy peptide, hops and other ingredients, with no wheat or barley. But people with a soy allergy need to be careful. And as noted above, the label does not tell you whether it shares a production line with barley products. Ingredients can change, so check the can every time.

Is Japanese “rice beer” gluten free?

Outside Japan, Japanese beer is sometimes called “rice beer.” This is because some major Japanese beers use rice and corn as extra ingredients, along with malt. For example, the ingredients of Asahi Super Dry are “malt, hops, rice, corn, starch.” It contains rice, but its main ingredient is still barley malt, so it is not gluten free. Kirin Ichiban, on the other hand, is made only from malt and hops. Either way, “made with rice” does not mean “made without barley.”

At an izakaya (a Japanese pub), you may also find a drink called Hoppy. It is a beer-flavored drink made from malt and hops, with less than 1% alcohol. The classic way to drink it is to pour shochu into a mug and top it up with Hoppy. Shochu is a distilled spirit, but Hoppy contains malt.

Is shochu gluten free? Whisky, gin, vodka and other spirits

Mugi (barley) shochu is made from barley. Whisky is made from barley malt and other grains. Even so, Coeliac UK, the UK charity for people with celiac disease, says that all spirits are fine for people with celiac disease, including malt whisky made from barley. In the US, Beyond Celiac also considers pure distilled spirits gluten free, even when they are made from wheat, barley or rye. This is because the gluten protein is not thought to remain after distillation.

However, Beyond Celiac warns that gluten can hide in drinks that have flavorings or other ingredients added after distilling. And when you order shochu at a Japanese izakaya, it usually comes mixed with something. The thing to watch is the mixer, more than the shochu itself.

Some people still choose to avoid distilled spirits, even though the major groups say they are fine. Where you draw your own line is a decision for you and your doctor.

Is sake gluten free? Sake and wine

Sake is usually made from rice and koji (rice cultured with a mold used in brewing), without wheat or barley. Under the labeling standards for sake, the label lists the ingredients, so you can check the 原材料名 (ingredients) box on the label. Coeliac UK also lists wine and cider as gluten free.

Is Shaoxing wine or makgeolli gluten free? Drinks made with wheat

Restaurants in Japan also serve Chinese and Korean drinks. Some of these are made with wheat.

Shaoxing wine, often served at Chinese restaurants, is a Chinese drink made from glutinous rice and wheat. Japan’s National Tax Agency also lists wheat as one of its ingredients. Shaoxing wine is brewed, not distilled, so people with a wheat allergy need to be careful, not only people with celiac disease. In Chinese cooking, Shaoxing wine is also sometimes used to season food.

Makgeolli, served at Korean restaurants, is also a brewed drink made from rice or wheat, with koji. Some products use only rice. Others use wheat or a koji made from wheat or barley. The surest way is to ask to see the ingredients on the bottle.

Is a shochu highball gluten free? Mixers and cocktails

At Japanese izakaya, people often drink a sour or a hai (highball): shochu mixed with tea, soda or fruit juice. Besides oolong-hai (shochu with oolong tea) and ryokucha-hai (shochu with green tea), some places also serve shochu with mugicha, which is barley tea. If the menu just says ocha-wari (shochu mixed with tea, often called a tea highball), ask what kind of tea it is.

Cocktails made with beer need care too. A shandygaff is beer and ginger ale. A red eye is beer and tomato juice. The name alone may not tell you that there is beer inside.

The first drink: “toriaezu bīru”

At a Japanese drinking party, it is common for everyone to start with the same first drink and make a toast together. There is even a phrase for it, toriaezu bīru (“beer for now, to start”), and the first drink tends to be beer.

If you cannot drink beer, it helps to decide on your own first drink before you sit down, or when the first order is taken. There are plenty of drinks you can use for the toast: oolong tea, a non-alcoholic beer whose ingredients you have checked, sake, or shochu with soda.

Wheat allergy vs celiac disease: what to watch when drinking

Food restrictions fall into two broad groups. Some people only need to avoid the ingredient itself; minor cross-contact is not a problem for them. Others must avoid even minor cross-contact. With alcohol, what to watch also depends on which grain you avoid.

If you have a wheat allergy, watch for drinks made with wheat: white beer, Shaoxing wine and some makgeolli. As I wrote in my article on barley, rye and oats, many people with a wheat allergy are said to be able to eat barley. But how much you can drink is a question to confirm with your doctor.

There is one more thing people with a wheat allergy should know. In food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis, symptoms appear when you exercise after eating, and wheat is a common cause. Alcohol is listed as one of the factors that make symptoms more likely. If you drink while eating dishes made with wheat, follow your doctor’s advice, not only about what is in the drink but about drinking itself.

If you have celiac disease, watch for the wheat drinks above and also for drinks made with barley: beer, happoshu, most non-alcoholic beer, Hoppy, and mixes with barley tea or beer cocktails. The major groups consider distilled spirits gluten free.

Japanese phrases to ask about drinks

For the full approach, see how to explain food allergies at restaurants in Japan.

How we approach drinks at WE TABLE

At restaurants in Japan, people often check the food but not the drinks. Alcohol has no labeling duty and comes in a glass, so it is even harder to see what is in it. That is why we recommend checking drinks in advance, just like food. At JOURNEY (our guided dinners, with a course built around your restrictions), we check drinks directly with the chef on the evening itself. A restaurant has many drinks, and they change often, so we cannot check every one in advance. We tell you plainly what we were able to check, and what we could not. We do not say “it is safe.” What we can tell you is what we checked, and how far.