In a restaurant in Japan, how to ask for the check

Nobody will bring you your check unless you ask for it, so when you are ready to leave, you could say "Okanjo kudasai," which means Check please, but this is crude, a rough request, good maybe for a simple place where everyone is sitting at a counter attacking bowls of noodles and there's not much talk.

Nicer, more polite, and much more common would be to stand up after you've finished, maybe knocking off a quick bow in the direction of anyone looking, and say "Gochiso-sama deshita," which means something like Ah, I've eaten very well… This is a well-understood phrase that indicates you're ready to leave and would like to pay. 

--Amos Hemingway