JJapan

Restaurant payment app starts its second attempt to make tipping a thing in Japan

  • July 11, 2025

TL;DR Dinii, a cashless payment provider in Japan, has introduced a tipping system that prompts users to add a percentage-based tip to their bill. The system, usable at 3,000 restaurants, has seen a 13% adoption rate, with a roughly even split between Japanese and non-Japanese users. While tipping is not a common practice in Japan, Dinii’s data suggests a growing acceptance of the practice, though it faces cultural challenges and existing practices like otoshi.

by SkyInJapan

35 comments

  2. It was jarring coming back to Canada after six weeks in Japan and seeing the tip prompt for my terrible airport Timmies coffee at the gate.

    I did not miss it.

  6. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NO, GOD, NOOOOO!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

  9. Payment platforms suggesting tipping in non tipping countries is stupid. I saw it a couple of months ago in Australia too. I’m just going to hit skip or 0% every time.

  10. We need to fight back!

    We need to charge these tipping software a tip for getting money from us!

  11. Good way to lose customers over time. Tipping in the US has become a bane of many people’s existence.

  12. A 13% adoption rate of 3,000 places using the app of, um, how many restaurants in the whole of Japan…?

  14. This tipping practice is being pushed in my country, too. It makes sense if you pay cash, you just leave the coins there, but I hate tipping per se. Just pay people a fair amount, there are other ways for customers to show appreciation (coming back, for example, which won’t happen if you try to force me to tip)

  15. And I keep telling ya. Don’t shit the futon. Nothing can salvage it if ya do. That tip is free, Japan.

  16. Oh no… don’t do this… come on man. Backward way of thinking…

  17. App is trying to milk more money out of payment since they take a commission on it too (IMO)

  20. Stop trying to make tipping happen in Japan. It’s not going to happen.

    Not only that, but tipping in the US has gotten out of hand so they’re trying to make it a thing in other countries.

  21. The practice should be banned by law. You should have to register as a charity to receive free money as a business.

  22. How does this benefit the customer in anyway other than increasing the price of going out to eat? Why would any optional pay more than the agreed upon price just becuase some people did their job?

  24. That restaurant will be just another one in a long line of failed restaurants

  28. This is what, imo, review systems are for. I’m sure they have a google review page, app store, etc. An effort to push traditional Japanese culture toward American-stye corporate profiteering by using tipping as an excuse for serving staff’s low salaries (and pushing additional costs on to customers in an economy experiencing a cost-of-living crunch) is certainly something they should get ‘constructive feedback’ on.

  30. Never heard of this app and hope it fucks off.

    Tipping is stupid. It means restaurants can pay their workers less and cause a more adverse relationship between the customer and the staff (customer needs to judge the staff on how well they do their job and compensate accordingly).

    Its so stupid to assume that just because the US does it the practice should be adopted everywhere.

  31. I’ll never forget drunkenly stepping out of an izakaya with friends, all of us leaning on each other for support, when I hear rapid steps behind me as the owners daughter chased us down the street to give us back the two ¥10 coins we forgot on the table when putting together the payment.

  32. Can Japan update its Commercial Law to just ban tipping already, just shove a stake through the heart of the very idea? No slippery slope. No optional support. No tipping.

  34. I will NEVER tip in Japan and encourage others not to if this ever happened

  35. It would be great if they could share which restaurants use that app so we can avoid them.

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