How to Find Half-Price Bento in Japan: Reading Supermarket Discount Stickers

Many Japanese supermarkets put discount stickers on bento, sushi and prepared food from the evening until closing, often 20–30% off first and half price later on what's left. Learn the few words on the sticker, check the date label, and you can have a cheap dinner in your hotel room.

Tip 1: Go in the evening, not at lunchtime

Discount stickers mostly show up from the evening until closing. J-CAST News (December 22, 2024) reports that many supermarkets add stickers such as 1割引 and 3割引 from the evening, deciding the rate from the weather, how busy the store is and the time left before closing. Fish, meat, cut fruit and prepared food are the usual items. Some leftovers, such as bread, milk and bento made the evening before, may go half price the next morning instead.

The steps usually get bigger as closing time gets closer. A report by Money Post (December 24, 2022) describes prepared food going 20–30% off first and half price later, and fresh food going 5–10%, then 20–30%, then half price. These are patterns, not rules: on a busy day there may be nothing left to discount, and a store open late or 24 hours keeps its own schedule. In the operator's experience, prepared food put out in the morning is often marked down from the evening, and food made in the evening about 1 hour before closing; see My visit below.

Rates aren't always set by hand, either. Aeon Retail uses an AI system called AI Kakaku that suggests discount rates from past sales, weather and customer numbers; in May 2024 it was used at about 380 stores and expanded to meat and fish, according to Impress Watch (May 7, 2024). So the same item can get a different rate on a different day.

Tip 2: Read the sticker in a few seconds

You only need a handful of words. 半額 (hangaku) means half price. 割 (wari) counts in tenths, so 2割引 (ni-wari-biki) means 20% off and 3割引 means 30% off. 円引 (en-biki) means a set number of yen off, so 100円引 is 100 yen off the price on the label.

Tip 3: Check the date label and eat it today

Discounted food is usually close to its date. Japan uses two date labels, as a leaflet from Osaka City explains. Both assume the pack is unopened and stored as the label says.

Discounted bento and rice balls carry the use-by label, 消費期限; FamilyMart's discount stickers (Tip 5) go on rice balls and bento close to that time.

For a half-price bento, that means eating it the same night rather than saving it for the next day's train. Keep it in your room's fridge if you have one, and if you have a food allergy, read the label as you would at full price; see our food allergy guide.

Tip 4: Eating it soon? Take the one at the front

If you'll eat something right away, pick the pack at the front of the shelf. Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency started a campaign called temaedori ("taking from the front") on June 1, 2021, with the agriculture and environment ministries and the Japan Franchise Association: when you'll eat soon, choose the items near their date at the front to cut food waste.

Tip 5: Convenience stores have discount stickers too

Supermarkets aren't the only place. FamilyMart's discount system, Famima no Eco-wari, puts a barcode sticker with a yen discount on rice balls and bento close to their use-by time; it started in July 2021 and is used at more than 90% of its stores, according to FamilyMart's release of March 3, 2025. From March 11, 2025, starting in the Tokai region, the stickers began switching to a "teary-eyed" design with the words たすけてください ("please help me"), in amounts from 10 to 150 yen. For more about what's good at convenience stores, see convenience store sweets and coffee.

Department store food halls before closing

The basement food floors of department stores (depachika) sell bento, side dishes and sweets from many small counters. Whether a counter marks anything down before closing is up to that shop and that day, so treat a sticker there as a bonus rather than a plan. If you do see one, the same words from Tip 2 apply.

Eating in your hotel: bag, chopsticks, heating

• Bring a bag. Since July 1, 2020, shops in Japan charge for plastic shopping bags with handles, as Hiroshima City explains. If you're asked 袋はいりますか (fukuro wa irimasu ka, "Do you need a bag?"), answer はい (hai, yes) or 大丈夫です (daijobu desu, no thanks).
• Ask for chopsticks. Check your bag before you leave the register. If you need some, say お箸ください (ohashi kudasai, "chopsticks, please").
• Summer: carry it for less time. In winter it's less of a worry, but in summer take extra care when carrying food around. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare says the risk of food poisoning rises especially in hot weather, and Fukuoka City advises not carrying takeout food for a long time, eating it soon, and putting what you won't eat right away in the fridge.
• Sushi packs: check for wasabi, soy sauce and ginger. In the operator's experience, a pack of sushi sometimes comes without わさび (wasabi), 醤油 (shoyu, soy sauce) or がり (gari, pickled ginger) inside. Some stores put free small packets nearby, so look around the sushi shelf; 1 packet per person is usually just right. For how to use them, see how to eat sashimi and wasabi.
• Check for dressing. In the operator's experience, salads at the deli counter are sometimes sold without dressing, which is sold separately. Look for ドレッシング (doresshingu, dressing) on the pack or nearby.
• Plan for heating. Not every room has a microwave. Ask the front desk whether the hotel has one guests can use, or choose food that's good cold, such as sushi, rice balls and sandwiches. When you do use a hotel microwave, be careful: in the operator's experience, heating at a high wattage for a long time can sometimes melt the container. NITE, Japan's product safety agency, warns that plastic that isn't heat-resistant can warp and containers with aluminum or other metal can spark, so check the container's label and the microwave's instructions before heating.

Warming up grilled fish so it stays moist

Deli counters often sell grilled fish. These are the operator's tips for warming it in a microwave. Check first that the container can go in a microwave (see the label, as above), and keep the heating short.

• Take off the plastic wrap, so the fish doesn't turn soggy.
• Lay 2 disposable chopsticks side by side under the fish to lift it up. Extra water and fat drip down, so the bottom is less likely to go soggy.
• If it seems dry or smells fishy, sprinkle a little sake (Japanese rice wine), from a few drops to about 1 teaspoon, before heating. No sake in your hotel? Just skip this step.
• Don't overheat it, or it gets tough. Heat at 500W–600W for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, checking as you go.

• Don't hover. Wait for staff to finish putting on stickers before you reach in, and don't take items from their cart.
• Plan your trash. Food packs and bottles add up; see trash rules for visitors. For snacks to go with dinner, see our supermarket snack guide.

Last reviewed: November 2, 2026. Discount times, rates and sticker designs change by store and over time; what you see in the shop is what counts.