Serving alcohol after midnight: what notification do you need?

In short: to run a bar, izakaya or similar business that serves alcohol as its main offering between midnight and 6 a.m., you must, under Article 33, paragraph 1 of the Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business (the Entertainment Business Act), submit a "late-night alcohol-serving restaurant business" commencement notification to the public safety commission with jurisdiction over the premises, for each premises. The counter is the community safety division of the police station with jurisdiction, and you file roughly ten days before you start. The notification presupposes that you hold the restaurant business permit under the Food Sanitation Act, and in residential land-use zones a prefectural ordinance may bar the business. This article is general information organising the requirements, zoning, premises standards, and the division of roles with the restaurant permit and the lease; it does not judge the outcome of any individual notification.

Why does serving alcohol late at night require a separate notification?

To open a restaurant you first need the restaurant business permit from the public health centre (Food Sanitation Act). On top of that, if you continue "a business whose main offering is alcohol" late at night, from midnight to 6 a.m., a separate notification under Article 33, paragraph 1 of the Entertainment Business Act is required.

The dividing line is "what the shop sells late at night." Article 2, paragraph 13, item 4 of the Act defines a bar, tavern and other business serving alcohol to customers as an "alcohol-serving restaurant business." Shops whose normal business is serving what is generally recognised as a staple-food meal (for example ramen shops or gyudon shops, where the staple food is central) are excluded.

Late-night (0–6 a.m.) business content	Article 33 notification
Bar, snack, izakaya, etc. where serving alcohol is central	Required
Ramen or set-meal shops where serving the staple food is normal and alcohol is incidental	In principle not required
Entertaining customers with hospitality (falls under amusement business, e.g. cabaret)	Notification is not enough; in principle the business cannot even operate after midnight

Amusement business involving hospitality is in principle barred from late-night operation and is a separate framework from the late-night alcohol-serving business. Within the scope of administrative-scrivener work, Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office supports confirming whether a notification is required, organising the requirements, preparing the notification and attached floor plan, and acting as agent for the filing. The individual outcome is a matter for the authority's examination.

Which land-use zones and locations cannot be notified?

Under Article 33, paragraph 4 of the Act, each prefecture may, by ordinance, "designate areas and prohibit the business." Many prefectures designate residential land-use zones as prohibited areas.

So even if the property is good, if its location falls within a residential land-use zone or an area prohibited by ordinance, you cannot operate even after filing. Land-use zones are set by city planning, and even along the same street they differ block by block. Before deciding on a property, it is important to check the location's land-use zone and the prefecture's prohibited areas. Whether the location is permissible is a key check that precedes the notification.

What is examined in the premises floor plan and structure?

You attach a floor plan of the premises to the notification. It is examined against the technical standards for the structure and equipment of the premises set by prefectural ordinance. The typical standards are as follows (the figures are common to many prefectures, but details differ by ordinance).

Item	Approximate standard
Floor area of a guest room	At least 9.5 m² per room (not applied where there is only one guest room)
Sight lines in the guest room	No equipment roughly over 1 metre high that blocks the line of sight
Decoration, etc.	No photographs or decorations likely to harm public morals
Locking of exits	No locking device on the guest-room exit (except an exit leading outside)
Brightness	Illumination in the premises not below 20 lux
Noise and vibration	Not exceeding the numerical standards set by ordinance

The floor plan is drawn so that the layout and floor area of guest rooms, kitchen and toilet, and the height of equipment, are clear. If the plan and the actual state differ, you may be flagged in the inspection after filing. If you carry out interior work or partitioning of the premises, it is safer to design with these standards in mind.

How do the restaurant permit and the lease divide in role?

The late-night alcohol-serving business spans several procedures and fields. The roles are as follows.

• Confirming requirements, preparing the floor plan, and acting as agent for the late-night alcohol-serving business commencement notification → Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (administrative scrivener)
• The lease of the shop property, checking the location (land-use zone), and adjusting the terms of use → Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (licensed real estate broker)
• The restaurant business permit (Food Sanitation Act) application → the public health centre (with the designer or interior contractor as needed to confirm facility standards)

The restaurant business permit is a public-health-centre procedure (Food Sanitation Act), separate from the late-night notification in both governing law and counter. Holding the restaurant business permit is a prerequisite for the Article 33 notification.

Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business from Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office, handles the property search, the lease and the land-use-zone check under a separate contract as an independent business. The restaurant business permit is within the public health centre's jurisdiction and is not something our office handles as agent. Each field is on the premise that you contract separately with each counter or qualified professional as an independent business, and our office receives no referral fee. For the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow; for fees, see Fee Schedule; and for the whole picture of our services, see Permits and Applications. Other permits for opening a business are also covered in Obtaining a secondhand-goods dealer permit: what the premises need and How do you obtain an industrial waste collection and transport permit?.

FAQ

Q. We run a ramen shop and serve draft beer late at night. Do we need to notify?
A. A shop whose normal business is serving what is generally recognised as a staple-food meal (such as ramen) is excluded from the "alcohol-serving restaurant business" in Article 2, paragraph 13, item 4, and in principle needs no Article 33 notification even if it serves alcohol incidentally late at night. However, if in reality serving alcohol is judged to be the centre of the business, a notification may be required. The individual judgement is made by the police station with jurisdiction, so we recommend checking before opening.

Q. By when should I file the notification?
A. You submit the notification to the public safety commission with jurisdiction over the premises (the counter is the community safety division of the police station with jurisdiction) roughly ten days before you start. Because preparing attachments such as the floor plan takes time, it is important to prepare early, in step with the interior-work schedule.

Q. Is late-night operation impossible in residential land-use zones?
A. Under Article 33, paragraph 4 of the Act, many prefectures designate residential land-use zones and the like as prohibited areas by ordinance. If the property's location falls within a prohibited area, you cannot serve alcohol late at night even after filing. The land-use zone and the ordinance's prohibited areas should be checked before deciding on a property.

Q. If I have the restaurant business permit, do I not need the late-night notification?
A. No. The restaurant business permit (Food Sanitation Act, public health centre) and the late-night alcohol-serving business notification (Entertainment Business Act, public safety commission) are separate procedures. Holding the restaurant permit is a prerequisite for the notification, but it alone does not allow you to serve alcohol as your main offering after midnight. Both are required.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business" (Act No. 122 of 1948), Article 2, paragraph 13, item 4, and Article 33, paragraphs 1 and 4 (accessed 2026-08-26)
• Metropolitan Police Department, guidance on the commencement notification for the "late-night alcohol-serving restaurant business" (accessed 2026-08-26)
• Each prefecture's ordinance under the Entertainment Business Act (technical standards for the structure and equipment of premises; designation of prohibited areas) (accessed 2026-08-26)
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and each public health centre, guidance on the "restaurant business permit (Food Sanitation Act)" (accessed 2026-08-26)

This article is general information and does not guarantee the outcome of any individual notification, whether a location falls within a prohibited area, compliance with the premises standards, the required documents or the handling of the examination. The outcome and examination of late-night alcohol service are decided by the public safety commission (police station with jurisdiction), and the restaurant business permit by the public health centre. Check the prohibited areas, the technical standards for structure and equipment, and the forms in the ordinance and official pages of the prefecture where the premises are located. The lease of the shop property and the land-use-zone check are handled by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (licensed real estate broker), and the restaurant business permit by the public health centre, each as an independent business or jurisdiction, under separate contracts and procedures. Our office receives no referral fee. Individual judgements are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu, administrative scrivener and licensed real estate broker.