To everyone starting a food business- Guidelines for food-related business license application -Food-related business includes various types of businesses. Of these, the following
businesses require a business license as stipulated in the Food Sanitation Act.
Category

Type of businessFood
preparation

Restaurant business

Food
manufacture

Confectionery manufacturing business

Foodprocessing

Meat processing business

Food sales

Processed meat sales business, ﬁsh and seafood sales business

etc

etc

etc

etc

In order to operate a business, you must submit an application for a businesslicense at the Public Health Center designated to regulate your business facility, build a facility that meets the facility standards set by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and receive a business license.

Then, you need to consistently inspect the facilities and equipment to assure
they are well maintained and adhere to the standards, and pay attention to
the handling of all foods to provide safe and hygienic food products.

These guidelines explain the main points for ﬁlling out the business license
application forms, and facility standards. For more information,please contact your local Public Health Center.Applying for a business license
Pre-consultation
Meeting【At the food sanitation division in the Public Health Center designated to regulate yourbusiness facility】
Bring your architectural and/or other plans, and consult with the Public Health Center
before beginning the construction of the facility.
You must appoint a food sanitation manager for each facility to ensure a hygienic andsafe operation.
When you use water other than tap water, a private water supply system (専用水道), ora private water supply facility (簡易専用水道), a water quality examination is required.
In case you have not yet appointed a food sanitation manager, or have notcarried out awater quality examination, please do so as soon as possible.

Submission ofthe applicationmaterials

Please submit the following documents approximately 10 days before the scheduled
completion of your facility.

Required documents for application
1.Business license application form…………… 1 copy
2.Floor plan showing the structure and equipment of the facility ……………… 2 copies
3.Certiﬁcate verifying the food sanitation manager(food sanitation manager license book etc.)
4.Water quality examination results (in cases using water other than tap water, a private
water supply system (専用水道), or a private water supply facility (簡易専用水道)
5.Application fee. Check at the Public Health Center where you submit.
(In cases of incorporation)
The authenticity of the corporate registry will be conﬁrmed by the corporation number
on the business license application form. Therefore, if you do not submit the corporate
number on the business license application form, the Certiﬁcate of Registered Mattersof the corporation (登記事項証明書) should be attached.

*Qualiﬁcations to become a food sanitation manager
1. Nutritionist, licensed cook, confectionery hygiene master, sanitation manager for
poultry slaughtering and processing, ship's cook, a person possessing the qualiﬁca
tions of a sanitation manager/a work sanitation manager regulated by the Slaughter
house Act.
2. A person possessing the qualiﬁcations to be a food sanitation supervisor or a foodsanitation inspector
3. A person who has completed the training program for a food sanitation manager
licenseConsultation on
facility
inspection
Facility inspection
Issuance ofbusiness license

Upon the submission of the application, please arrange with the person in charge thedate of inspection and the manner of communication for the construction progress.
The business operator must be present at the inspection. If the facility does not meetthe standards, the business will not receive a permit. Fix any inadequate matters andreschedule the inspection for another date.
After passing the facility inspection, the business license will be issued. As issuancetakes several days, arrange the opening day for the business in advance.

1How to ﬁll out the Business license
application form (Front page)Sample: for operation of businesses thatrequires a licenseIf you are applying for alicense for the ﬁrst time,circle“新規 (New)”

Circle“第55条第1項 (Article 55,item 1)”.

The license information will beregistered in the national open
data system for public use.
If you check this box, theapplicantsʼ name and address
will not be open to the public.
Enter the applicantʼs information; telephone number,address, name, date of birthetc.
Enter the business facilityʼsinformation: telephone
number, address, name, etc.
Enter the name of the foodsanitation manager and type of
qualiﬁcation (See the bottomof page 4)
Enter the main food itemhandled by the businessfacility. Information concerning
other food items handled cango in the “自由記載(freeentry)” column.
Enter the cuisine type if thebusiness is a restaurant, e.g.
Japanese, Chinese, Italian,yakiniku, Izakaya etc.
If the business is a “複合型そうざい製造業” or “複合型冷凍食品製造業” check the “
HACCPに基づく衛生管理(sanitation control based on
HACCP).”
Enter the information of theperson in charge of submission; name, telephone number.
(Not required when same as
the applicants above)
Corporations have to enter
the telephone number ofthe head oﬃce, corporation number (13 digits),
registered address of thehead oﬃce, name of thecorporation, the name of
the representative, etc. If
you do not submit thecorporate number, theCertiﬁcate of Registered
Matters (登記事項証明書)
should be attached.

In case of incorporation

2

How to ﬁll out the Business license
application form (Front page)Sample: For operation of businesses that require a license as well as businesses
requiring a notiﬁcation
A business notiﬁcation must also be submitted in addition to obtaining a license when conducting abusiness that requires notiﬁcation such as selling packaged milk at the cashier counter of a licensedrestaurant.
If you are applying for theﬁrst time, circle on “新規(New)”
Circle“第55条第1項 (Article 55,item 1)”.
The license information will be
registered in the national open
data system for public use. If
you check this box, theapplicantsʼ name and address
will not be open to the public.
Corporations have to enter thetelephone number of the headoﬃce, corporation number (13digits), registered address ofthe head oﬃce, name of thecorporation, the name of therepresentative, etc. If you donot submit the corporate
number, the Certiﬁcate ofRegistered Matters (登記事項証明書) should be attached.
Enter the business facilityʼsinformation: telephone
number, address, name, etc.
Enter the name of the foodsanitation manager and type of
qualiﬁcation (See the bottomof page 4)
For both a licensed businessand a business requiring
notiﬁcation, enter the mainfood item handled in thebusiness facility. Information
about other food items
handled can go in the “自由記載(free entry)” column.
Enter the cuisine type if thebusiness is a restaurant, e.g.
Japanese, Chinese, Italian,yakiniku, Izakaya etc.
If the business is a “multi sidedish items production
business” or “multi frozen fooditems production business,”check the “HACCPに基づく衛生管理 (sanitation control
based on HACCP).”Enter the main business type
for the notiﬁcation.
Enter the information of theperson in charge of submission; name, telephone number.
(Not required when same as
the applicants above)3

Business license application form
(Back page)
Check where applicable.

when manufacturing food oradditives described in ①
through ⑪, enter the foodsanitation manager information; the name, furigana/katakana, type of qualiﬁcation,and training courses attended.
*Attach a “food sanitation
manager appointment
notiﬁcation” under theprovision of Article 48, Item 8.
Choose the water supply
system for the business
operation.
Check where applicable.

When your restaurant
business falls under a simple
restaurant businesstype.When the facility isprocessing or cooking meat
intended for raw consumption,
submit another report basedon Article 17 of the Tokyo
Metropolitan Food Sanitation
Ordinance Enforcement
Regulations.
Check when handling globeﬁsh(fugu). Enter the name andkatakana of the licensed globeﬁshchef. In the “認定番号(certiﬁcationnumber),” enter the certiﬁcation
number that is issued by the local
prefectural government, etc.
Facilities handling globeﬁsh(fugu) are required to obtain
another certiﬁcation based on
Article 12 of the Tokyo globeﬁsh(fugu) handling regulationsordinance.
*For attachments, check box“営業施設の構造及び設備を示す図面(Floor plans showing the structureand equipment of the facility)” toattach a plan drawn by following
the instruction on page 9.
*In case of using water other thantap water, a private water supply
system (専用水道), or a private
water supply facility(簡易専用水道), check the box of “水質検査の結果 (result of water examination)”and attach the proof.
*In cases requiring the Certiﬁcateof Registered Matters (登記事項証明書) for corporation businesses,
write it down here as an attachment.
Enter the business type you are
applying for.

*Qualiﬁcation to become a food sanitation manager
Circle the following qualiﬁcation type where applicable.

食管：Food sanitation manager 食監:Food sanitation inspector 調： Licensed chef 製：Confectionery
hygiene master 栄：Nutritionist 船舶：Ship's cook と畜: Sanitation manager (regulated by the slaughterhouse Act) 食鳥：Sanitation manager for poultry slaughtering and processing
When you have completed the training course, circle “都道府県知事等の講習会 (training course hosted by the
local prefectural government, etc.) and write the training course name (e.g. prefecture name) and its date.

4

Plan showing the structure and equipment of the facility
Measuring instruments/apparatus
Facility for refrigeration, freezing, sterilization, cooking must be equipped withthermometers and, as necessary, pressuregauges/manometers, and other measuring
instruments.

Sample: For a restaurant business
Please draw precisely with a black ballpoint or fountain pen. All equipment is required to be included with its name.

Show themeasurements ofall sides ofthefacility.
ToiletThe structure must not contaminate theworkplace.
A hand wash basin with running-watertype faucet must be attached.

The wallmust be athick solidline.
Washing equipment

To clean food and other items, washingequipment must be of suﬃcient size andnumber appropriate for the purpose of use
and capable of suppling hot water, steam,etc. as necessary.

Use a dotted line for overlapping areas
Wash basin

The running-water type wash basins must
be provided for washing and sanitizing
hands and ﬁngers.
The faucet must be designed to avoid
recontamination of the hands afterwashing.

Storage

The facility must have storage areas ofsuﬃcient scale to store raw materials at
appropriate temperatures and to keep them inconditions that prevent contamination.
A diﬀerent storage from food items must be
provided for cleaning agents, disinfectants, andother chemical substances used in the facility.

【Example of washing equipment arrangement】
Two individual sinks, one for cleaning fooditems and one for cleaning utensils, areinstalled to prevent contamination fromshared use.
Hot water system is installed to wash oﬀgrease.

Faucet design
to avoid recon
tamination(examvple)

Pushpossibletooperate
with
elbow

Sensor typeLong lever type5

Pedal type

Push
Faucetautomatically shuts oﬀ
after someseconds.

Timed shut oﬀ type