Online booking for cooking classes
You buy ingredients for the people who booked. A cancellation the night before is not an empty seat — it is food already in your fridge.
A 150-minute class event type, capped by work surface, paid online in yen, with a 48-hour booking cut-off and no refund inside it.
Your customer is not in the country yet#
Most bookings come from visitors planning a trip weeks ahead, reading in English, at eleven at night in another time zone. They cannot pay on the day because they are not here, and if they do not pay at all, you have no idea whether to shop for them.
Dietary restrictions compound it. Halal, vegetarian and a shellfish allergy each mean a different shop, and finding out on the morning is too late.
The setup to start from#
Ingredients are bought for the people who booked, so a late cancellation is a real cost, and most bookings come from visitors who pay before they arrive in the country.
| Duration | 150 minutes |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 48 hours, so shopping can be done |
| Bookable up to | 180 days |
| Location | In person, with the nearest station and a map link in the description |
| Payment | Paid online in yen — the customer is overseas and will not pay on the day |
| Cancellation policy | Full refund 72 hours before, 50% inside that, none inside 24 hours |
Worth asking on the booking form: How many people? · Any allergies or dietary requirements? · Which country are you visiting from?
Overseas guests book weeks ahead in their own time zone and read the page in English. Dietary restrictions are the question that saves the class: halal, vegetarian and shellfish allergies all need a different shop.
Business Box books one party per time slot, so several customers cannot sign up for the same class individually — the first booking takes the session. It fits private sessions, trials and one-to-one teaching today. See what that means for group classes. One booking, one slot
Paid in yen when they book#
The class is confirmed only when the card payment succeeds, so your guest list is a list of people who have committed. Yen is handled properly, so ¥12,000 is ¥12,000. Connecting Stripe
A cut-off that matches your shopping#
Set Minimum notice to 48 hours and a cancellation policy of no refund inside it. Both are shown before booking, so nobody is surprised, and your shopping list stops changing after you have written it.
Ask about food on the booking form#
Allergies and dietary requirements as a required question, plus how many people and which country they are visiting from. Booking form questions
One booking takes the class#
Business Box books one party per time slot. That works well for a class sold to one group — a family, a couple, four friends who book together and tell you the number on the form — and it does not work for a public class where eight strangers each book a seat.
If you sell to one party at a time, ask for the group size on the booking form and price per session. One booking, one slot
Getting started#
- Sign in at app.marubox.jp with Google or Microsoft. There is no card and no trial clock.
- Create an event type with the settings above. Event types explained
- Connect your calendar so your kitchen never gets double booked. Google · Outlook
- Set your real hours, and close Japanese public holidays in one tick. Availability
- Put the link in your bio, or the widget on your site. Adding it to your website
Common questions
Can visitors book and pay before they arrive in Japan?
Yes. They pay by card in yen through your Stripe account from anywhere, and the class is confirmed only once the payment clears.
How do I collect allergies and dietary requirements?
Add a required question on the booking form. The answer arrives with the booking and appears in the email you receive, well before you shop.
How do I stop late cancellations costing me the ingredients?
Set a 48-hour minimum notice and a cancellation policy with no refund inside that window. Both are shown to the guest before they book and again before they cancel.
Do guests see the class time in their own time zone?
Yes, automatically, which matters when they are booking from another country before they travel.
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.