Japan's Go to Eat Campaign and How to Save Money on Eating-Out

Poste date: Friday, November 20, 2020

Since the 22nd of July (2020), the Japanese government has been running and promoting its “Go To Campaign”. There are 4 different variations of the "Go To Campaign".

In this article we will be covering the Go to Eat Campaign, how you can apply for it, and how much of a discount you are eligible to receive from it.

For information about the Go to Travel Campaign, please read our previous article Japan's Go to Travel Campaign: Save up to 50% on Domestic Travel.

Note: Go to Eat Online has ended on most of the booking websites. For Meal Vouchers are still available however it all depends on the region. For Tokyo, the meal vouchers have been available since November 20, you can purchase the vouchers on this website however all information is available only in Japanese.

What is the “Go to Eat” campaign?

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries has started a public offering of businesses related to the "Go To Eat Campaign" to support restaurants and agriculture, forestry, and fishermen who supply ingredients during the covid-19 pandemic.

There are two versions of the Go To Eat campaign.

1. You will receive points for up to 1,000 yen per person when making an online reservation at a restaurant.

2. You can purchase a 25% discounted meal voucher that can be used at registered restaurants.

The Meal vouchers will be issued in each prefecture starting from September. The meal vouchers will be valid until the end of January 2021. The online points will be valid until the end of March 2021.

How to Apply for the "Go to Eat" Campaign

As mentioned above, there are 2 versions of this campaign.

1. Online Reservation ( this has ended in most of the booking websites)

For those making reservations online via a restaurant's website before visiting the restaurant, you will receive points that can be used from your next visit until the campaign's end.

For a lunch reservation, you will receive 500 points and for a dinner reservation, you will receive 1,000 points.

The maximum number of points that can be given per a reservations is 10,000 points (10 people).

Points can be acquired until the end of January 2021 and they can be used until their expiration date at the end of March 2021.

2. Meal vouchers

Meal vouchers are planned to be distributed only within each prefecture, with a 25% premium added.

For 10,000 yen, you can purchase a meal voucher for 12,500 yen. At the most you can purchase up to 20,000 yen (meal voucher for 25,000 yen) at a time. However, the maximum amount that can be purchased will vary depending on the region as some regions have set their maximum amount at 16,000 yen.

There is no limit to the number of vouchers you can purchase.

The vouchers will be for sale until the end of January 2021 and can be used until their expiration date at the end of March 2021.

To purchase Meal Vouchers, please visit the website below and click the link of the prefecture or regions you are interested. Please also note that some regions limit their vouchers only for residents in the region. The website is available only in Japanese.

Go to Eat meal vouchers list per region

The Campaign may end earlier

If the Japanese government's budget for the Go To Eat Campaign is depleted, the campaign will end before January 31, 2021.

Home Delivery and Take-away (Take-out)

In addition to restaurant's food and drinks, the vouchers can be used for "home delivery" and "take-away".

However, the vouchers cannot be use at a "Take-away / delivery food service business" such as pizza delivery and take-away sushi business. The vouchers can only be used at a restaurant or a cafe that offers delivery or offers take-away food.