How to book a nail salon in Japan

If a salon is on HotPepper Beauty, this is almost always your easiest path. The site is in Japanese, but the booking flow is consistent across thousands of salons:

1. Right-click the page and choose Translate to English in your browser.
2. Pick a course or menu item (designs, gel removal, etc.).
3. Choose a date and time from the calendar.
4. Enter your name, email, and phone number. A Japanese phone is ideal but not always required.

Confirmation comes by email, usually within a few hours. Some salons require credit card pre-authorization for first-time bookings.

When the salon links to its own form, expect a Japanese-only page. Two translation tricks save the day:

• On desktop: open the page in Chrome or Edge and translate to English. Form fields are translated too.
• On phone: use the camera in Google Translate (point and shoot at the page) for instant overlay translation.

If the form asks for an address or 振替 (a Japanese bank transfer), it's usually fine to leave those fields blank or fill in your hotel name.

Many smaller, design-forward salons book exclusively through Instagram. Salon owners often reply in English or use Instagram's built-in translate feature.

Sample message you can copy:

Hi! I'm visiting Tokyo from {your country} and would love to book a nail
appointment. I'd like {date} around {time}, and I'm interested in
{design style — e.g. "magnetic nails" / "kintsugi-style art"}.

Is this possible? Thanks so much!

Phone bookings require Japanese, but your hotel concierge can almost always help. Show them the salon name, your preferred date/time, and this script:

予約をお願いします。
お名前: {your name}
日付・時間: {date and time}
お電話番号は私のホテルです: {hotel phone}
英語のメッセージで確認をいただけますか？

Roughly: I'd like to make a reservation. Name, date, time. The phone is my hotel. Could you confirm by email in English?