Terms of Use

You’ll notice that some words appear in quotes in the Terms. They’re called “defined terms,” and we use them so we don’t have to repeat the same language again and again, and to make sure that the Terms are consistent. We’ve included the defined terms throughout because we want it to be easy for you to read them in context

airKitchen is a Platform Service Provider

One thing we want to make clear up front is that, through the Services, airKitchen offers an online platform to allow Hosts and Guests to connect. Your safety (and satisfaction) is our top priority. Although our goal is to make your experience as seamless and delicious as possible and we have done our best to vet each of our Hosts for quality, you acknowledge and agree that airKitchen’s responsibilities under these Terms are limited solely to facilitating the availability of the Services, serving as the limited payment agent of each Host, processing refunds to Guests, and holding and administering payments as a trustee on behalf of Hosts and Guests. More on this below.

A “Host” is a Member who offers and provides a Culinary Experience.
A “Guest” is a Member who requests a booking of a Culinary Experience via the Services, or a Member who partakes in a Culinary Experience.

A “Culinary Experience” is a customized dining experience provided by a Host to a Guest, and might include a meal, cooking experience, or market visit, which is available for purchase by Guests via the Services.

Your access to the Site and use of the Services is at your own risk and airKitchen disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and limits its liability in these Terms. You’ll see that we’ve included a disclaimer towards the end of these Terms. If, during your Culinary Experience, or through your use of the Services, you’re subjected to behavior you believe is offensive, threatening, dangerous or otherwise illegal, or if you suspect theft of, or damage to, your property or personal belongings, you should immediately contact the appropriate local authorities or safety emergency agency (calling 100 in Japan or a similar local public emergency safety agency). airKitchen isn’t able to provide or arrange for local emergency services.

Agreement between You and airKitchen

Agreeing to our Terms

By accessing the Site or using our Services you agree to be bound by these Terms, whether or not you have registered with the Services. If you don’t agree, then you shouldn’t, and in fact aren’t permitted to, use the Services. If you are accessing and using the Services on behalf of a company (such as your employer) or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that company or other legal entity to these Terms. In that case, “you” and “your” will refer to that company or other legal entity.
Certain areas of the Site or features of the Services may have additional terms and you should read those additional terms. If there’s a conflict between these Terms and the additional terms, the additional terms will govern your use of those areas of the Site or features of the Services.

Changes to Terms or Services

We can change the Terms at any time. If we do so, we’ll let you know either by posting the changed Terms on the Site or through other communications. We’ll also update the “Last Updated Date” at the top of these Terms. It’s important that you review the changed Terms because if you continue to use the Services after we’ve let you know that they’ve been changed, you’re telling us that you agree to be bound by the changed Terms. If you don’t agree to be bound by the changed Terms then you’re not allowed to use the Services anymore – sorry! We’re always striving to make the Services better and because they’re evolving over time we may change or discontinue all or any part of the Services, at any time and without notice, at our discretion. As an example, we might stop providing a feature that our users don’t like or use very often.

Using the Services

You can only use the Services if you are 18 years or older and are not barred from using the Services under applicable law. In addition, you’re only allowed to become a Member in order to offer and provide a Culinary Experience as a Host and to search for and book Culinary Experiences as a Guest. e.g., You can’t become a Member to try to collect information about other Members, or to contact other Members for other purposes.

Featured Hosts and Member Testimonials

From time to time, we may feature certain Hosts on our Site ( a “Featured Host”) in order to highlight the types of Culinary Experiences they offer. We also post Members’ reviews of their Culinary Experiences through the Services. We do this so that other users (both potential Hosts and potential Guests) can get a flavor for what their own experiences might be like through the Services. We don’t endorse any Members. We don’t have an obligation to conduct background checks on any Member, but we might do so on a discretionary basis. We’re not responsible for any damage or harm resulting from your communications or interactions with other Members. By using the Services you agree that any legal remedy or liability that you seek to obtain for actions or omissions of other Members or other third parties will be limited to a claim against the particular Members or other third parties who caused you harm and you agree not to attempt to impose liability on airKitchen, or seek any legal remedy from airKitchen with respect to such actions or omissions.

What if I’m a Host?

Through the Services, Guests traveling (or planning to travel) the world and who are interested in an authentic home dining experience in a location in which we operate can complete our online reservation form (“Reservation Form”) to let us know when and where they are traveling, and their preferences for a customized dining experience. For example, our Reservation Form will prompt a Guest for information such as his name, contact information, location and dates of travel, the number and names of his Guests that will be accompanying him, his dietary restrictions and his food preferences. We will also collect additional information that we have heard from our Hosts is helpful, such as whether or not Guests are traveling on a special occasion (like a honeymoon!). We’ll use this information to find and match such Guest with a Host in our Host network willing to provide a Culinary Experience matching the Guest’s parameters. You will be notified if there is a match and asked to confirm your availability. At this time you will be able to see the date of request and information about the Guest(s). If you confirm your availability, we will notify the Guest. If the Guest likes your Itinerary and confirms and pays for the Culinary Experience, we’ll notify you of the confirmed booking request through the Services.

Contract with Guests

You understand and agree that airKitchen doesn’t act as your insurer, broker, contracting agent or other representative, other than as noted under “How Do I Get Paid? Appointment Of airKitchen As Payment Agent” and “Payment And Administration Of Member Funds” below. If a Guest books your Culinary Experience, any contract that you enter into with the Guest, written or oral, will be between you and the Guest only. While we’ll use reasonable efforts in our sole discretion to help you in your dealings with Guests to make the experience between you and Guests as enjoyable as possible, you, and not airKitchen, will be responsible for performing the obligations of any contracts with the Guests, and airKitchen will not be liable in connection with such contracts.

Booking Terms

When a booking is requested for your Culinary Experience, you must confirm or reject the request within 24 hours of the time the booking was requested. Otherwise, the request may be automatically rejected. The time of the booking request will be tracked via the Services. If you confirm, airKitchen will send the Guest who requested the booking a notice (email acceptable) of the booking. Once a Guest requests a booking, the price for the booking cannot be changed.

What Can I Charge, When Do I Get Paid And How Much Do I Pay to airKitchen?

As a Host, you, not airKitchen, decide what to charge Guests for a Culinary Experience (the “Culinary Experience Fees”). We will mark up the Culinary Experience Fees at our sole discretion (the amount of such mark up to be referred to as the “Mark Up”). The Culinary Experience Fees plus any Mark Up (the “Total Culinary Experience Fees”) will be included in each Itinerary, so that a Guest is aware of the cost prior to requesting a booking. Guests have to pay the Total Culinary Experience Fees in advance. Where applicable, airKitchen may charge Taxes in addition to the Mark Up. airKitchen will deduct its Mark Up and applicable Taxes from the Total Culinary Experience Fees before remitting the remaining funds to you. airKitchen will use commercially reasonable efforts to remit funds to you via PayPal, Stripe, direct deposit or other payment methods described on our Site, in your local currency. airKitchen will bear any foreign currency processing and conversion costs incurred in order to pay you in your local currency. That said, we may delay payment to you in cases where we suspect fraud or other misuse of the Services. The amount of time it takes for you to receive your funds will vary depending on the payment method you select.

As a Host, you are responsible for honoring your commitment to each Guest for any Confirmed Bookings. In the event of a cancellation by you, or in the event that the experience is not provided as described in the Itinerary, airKitchen reserves the right to remove you from our community of Hosts. Additionally, airKitchen may charge you an additional fee (up to the amount of the fees paid to you by airKitchen for the booking in question) if you cancel a Confirmed Booking, if your Culinary Experience is not as described in the Itinerary, or if the Guest cancels a Confirmed Booking for cause based on applicable law.

How Do I Get paid? Appointment Of airKitchen As Payment Agent

Guests will pay airKitchen directly via the Services, and as a Host you hereby appoint airKitchen as your limited agent solely for the purpose of collecting payments made by Guests on your behalf when such payments are earned by you. Such funds will be paid into and held by airKitchen in a segregated trust account and airKitchen will administer such funds as the trustee of such account. Please see “Payment and Administration Of Member Funds” below. You agree that payment for Total Culinary Experience Fees made by a Guest to airKitchen once earned will be considered the same as a payment made directly to you as a Host and that you’ll make the Culinary Experience available to Guest as if you had received the Total Culinary Experience Fees yourself. In accepting appointment as your limited agent, airKitchen assumes no liability for any of your acts or omissions.

What’s The Deal With Taxes?

As a Host, you have to determine your own Tax reporting and payment requirements. You can do this in consultation with a tax advisor if you like. We don’t and can’t offer Tax-related advice to any Members – we leave that to tax experts! Please note that each Host is responsible for determining any applicable Taxes on the amounts collected by airKitchen on a Host’s behalf. airKitchen is not responsible for determining the amount of, or invoicing Guests for, Taxes. “Tax” or “Taxes” mean sales taxes, value added taxes (VAT), goods and services taxes (GST), and other similar municipal, income taxes imposed on amounts collected from Guests. Where applicable, or if a Host asks, airKitchen may issue a valid VAT invoice to such Host. If airKitchen is required by any taxing jurisdiction to pay over Taxes attributable to the amounts collected by airKitchen for such Host, airKitchen will be entitled to pay such amounts to a taxing authority out of, and as a reduction in, funds otherwise payable to a Host.

What If I’m A Guest?

How Much Does It Cost To Book a Culinary Experience?
As a Guest, you’ll have to pay the Total Culinary Experience Fees (described above) in order to enjoy a Culinary Experience. We’ll tell you what the Total Culinary Experience Fees will be before you have a Confirmed Booking, which may include applicable taxes. On the Site, we provide a price range to give Guests an indication of the range within which particular Culinary Experiences fall (including typical price ranges for specific Culinary Experiences offered by our Featured Hosts). Exact pricing is based on the number of people traveling and the exact service being requested. At the time of a booking request, Guests requesting to book a Host will be asked to enter their credit card information to hold their reservation. The credit card will only be charged after the Host has confirmed the booking request, and then you the Guest confirm your booking which prompts payment in full of the Total Culinary Experience Fees. At that point, your payment obligation to the Host for the Total Culinary Experience Fees is complete. airKitchen accepts all major credit cards which are processed via Stripe’s secure processing system.

If you make a request for a booking via the Services, you agree that (a) airKitchen may charge your credit card for verification, pre-authorization and payment purposes (and such charges are fully effective as payments to the Host, because as noted above, airKitchen is the payment agent of the Host); (b) you will pay the applicable Total Culinary Experience Fees and other charges to airKitchen, acting as payment agent of the Host, which funds will be held in one or more Customer Accounts (defined under “Payment and Administration Of Member Funds” below) and (c) you agree to bear any additional charges that your bank or other financial service provider may levy on you as well as any Taxes that may apply to you. You’ll receive a confirmation email once the Confirmed Booking transaction is complete. If you have any concerns or objections regarding charges, you agree to raise them first with airKitchen and you agree not to cancel or reject any credit card charges unless you have made a reasonable attempt at resolving the matter directly with airKitchen or the Host.

Your Contract With The Host

The Hosts, not airKitchen, are responsible for honoring any Confirmed Bookings and making the applicable Culinary Experiences available. You agree to leave the Host’s location upon the completion of your Culinary Experience, or in the event the Host notifies you that the Host is uncomfortable with your presence in the Host’s location. While we’ll use reasonable efforts in our sole discretion to help you in your dealings with Hosts to make the experience between you and Hosts as enjoyable as possible, you, and not airKitchen, will be responsible for performing the obligations of any contracts with the Hosts, and airKitchen will not be liable in connection with such contracts.

Claims Under airKitchen’s Insurance Policies

airKitchen may allow a Guest to make a claim (up to ¥100,000,000) under airKitchen’s insurance policy for medical costs (for example, hospital bills) incurred directly resulting from the Guest becoming sick as a direct result of consuming food prepared as part of a Culinary Experience. You agree to cooperate with and assist airKitchen in good faith, and to provide airKitchen with such information as may be reasonably requested by airKitchen in order to facilitate such a claim, including, but not limited to, executing documents and taking such further acts as airKitchen may reasonably request. If airKitchen’s insurance provider decides not to process any such claim, airKitchen may, in its discretion, reimburse the Guest for the medical costs outlined in such claim (up to ¥100,000,000).

Dealing With Complaints Or Claims

As we’ve mentioned throughout these Terms, we’re going to try to make the experience between Guests and Hosts as enjoyable as possible. If you are a Guest or a Host and you have an issue with a Host or Guest (as applicable), we encourage you to reach out directly to the other party to resolve such issue, and we’ll use reasonable efforts to help you resolve the issue. Both Guests and Hosts agree to cooperate with and assist airKitchen in good faith, and to provide airKitchen with such information and take such actions as may be reasonably requested by airKitchen, in connection with any complaints or claims made by Hosts or Guests relating to Culinary Experiences, relating to conduct of Guests and Hosts, or with respect to any investigation undertaken by airKitchen or a representative of airKitchen regarding use or abuse of the Services. If you are a Guest or a Host, upon airKitchen’s reasonable request, and to the extent you are reasonably able to do so, you agree to participate in mediation or similar resolution process with a Host or a Guest, at no cost to you. Any such process will be conducted by airKitchen or a third party selected by airKitchen.

User Conduct Terms

In connection with your use of the Services you agree that you won’t:
1. recruit or otherwise solicit any Host or other Services user to join third party services or websites that are competitive or similar to airKitchen, without airKitchen’s prior written approval.
2. attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any airKitchen system or network or breach any security or authentication measures.
3. mistreat any airKitchen employees including, but not limited to, using abusive language in writing or by telephone.
If you break this terms, we charge you 10,000,000 Yen