You walk into a ramen shop, and the first thing waiting for you isn’t a person — it’s a machine.
In Japan, you’ll often find a ticket machine (券売機, a vending machine for meal tickets) near the entrance at places like ramen (ラーメン), soba (そば) and gyudon (牛丼, beef bowl) chains.
Some travelers come from countries that don’t have meal tickets, and it confuses them at first. But there are only three steps.
・Before you sit down, buy a ticket at the ticket machine
・Hand the ticket to the staff, or hold on to it and wait
・When you’ve finished eating, leave without stopping at the register (you’ve already paid)
Even if you can’t read the buttons, there’s a way through.
1 Once you’re inside, go to the ticket machine before you sit
At a ticket-machine restaurant, you buy a ticket first. You sit down after that.
The staff may tell you 「初めに食券をお買い求めください」 (hajime ni shokken o okaimotome kudasai, “please buy a meal ticket first”).
At stand-up soba and udon (うどん) shops in stations, and at some set-meal (定食) restaurants, you may also have to buy a ticket first.
2 Money and buttons — the order depends on the machine
On a push-button machine, you put your money in first, then press the button for your dish.
On a touch-screen machine, where you choose by tapping the screen, the order may be the other way around. You choose your food first and pay at the end.
Bills and coins
Some machines don’t take ¥10,000 or ¥5,000 bills.
So carry a few ¥1,000 bills and coins worth ¥10 or more, and you’re less likely to get stuck in front of the ticket machine.
If you don’t have a bill the machine takes, point at the ticket machine and ask the staff.
Cash or card?
Some ticket machines are cash only, and some take cards or smartphone payments. It depends on the restaurant.
If you want to pay by card, check the machine’s screen or the signs posted on the machine. If you’re not sure, show your card to the staff and try checking with them.
おつり (change) and 返却 (money back)
Some machines that let you buy several tickets in a row won’t give you your change until you press the おつり/お釣り (change) button. Once you’ve taken your ticket, check that your change came out too.
If you want to cancel after putting in your money, look for a button or lever marked 返却 (money back).
3 If you can’t read the buttons, or you pressed the wrong one
Some touch-screen machines can switch to English, Korean, Chinese and other languages. First, look for a language button on the screen.
Some machines show big photos of the dishes. Toppings and side dishes may be lined up on smaller buttons.
If the buttons are only in Japanese and you can’t read them, use a translation app on your phone, or point at the ticket machine and ask the staff.
If you realize you pressed the wrong button, show your ticket to the staff and ask them before you start eating.
4 After you buy your ticket — hand it over, or keep it and wait
What you do with the ticket differs from restaurant to restaurant.
Hand it to the staff. Give your ticket to the staff and wait at your seat, and your food will be brought to you.
Keep your ticket and wait for your number. At some restaurants, your order goes in the moment you buy the ticket, and the ticket has a number on it. Wait at your seat, and when your food is ready and your number comes up on the screen above the counter, take your ticket to the counter to pick up your food.
If you can’t tell which kind of restaurant it is, copy what the people around you are doing, or follow the restaurant’s signs.
5 Once you’re seated — some places let you choose how you like it
What you buy at the ticket machine is just the dish. At some restaurants, you can choose the finer details at your seat.
At the ramen restaurant Ichiran (一蘭), for example, you fill in an order sheet at your seat — noodle firmness, how much fat in the broth and more — to make the bowl just the way you like it. The sheet also comes in English, Korean and Chinese.
At Ichiran, when you want 替玉 (a refill of noodles only), just put the 替玉 plate on top of the call button, and a staff member will come to collect it.
You can even get a refill without saying a word. It’s one of the small pleasures of a ticket-machine restaurant.
6 When you’ve finished eating
Anything you bought with a ticket was already paid for at the machine. You can walk straight out without stopping at the register.
Some restaurants have you take your dishes back to the 返却口 (the place to return your dishes) yourself. If the people around you are carrying their bowls back, do the same.
For now, just this
Buy your ticket before you sit down.
Carry ¥1,000 bills and some coins.
If you can’t read the buttons, use a translation app, or point and ask the staff.
If you’re not sure what to do with your ticket, look at the signs or at the people around you.
※ Which money you can use and how you hand over your ticket differ from one restaurant to another. If you’re unsure, check the restaurant’s signs or ask the staff.
