How vegan friendly is Japan?

Japanese cuisine has a reputation for relying heavily on fish products; well, it's an island so that has to be expected. They are also known for using an array of vegetables, legumes and lots of seaweed. However even simple vegetable dishes may come with animal fats or have dairy included.

There is a style of cuisine in Japan called sho-jin ryouri(精進料理）which has it's origins stemming from the Buddhist temple traditions. However this is an expensive option. In traditional Japanese restaurants a problem is the use of Dashi, which is a sauce containing dried fish which is added to everything, including dressing and sauces used in vegetable dishes.

Veganism is growing in Japan, with most people choosing the plant based lifestyle for health reasons. However it's still a fair way behind western countries and although there is a great choice in the major cities, it can be a problem outside these.

Vegan restaurants and cafes

Tokyo has around 80 vegan restaurants with a wide variety of styles and prices, including plenty of western options as well. Kyoto has more restaurants per capita than Tokyo, so is also an easy city to live in for a vegan. Other cities will have a reasonable selection, but then it starts to get complicated. More places are popping up, in more rural areas but they are often a lone affair, so good planning is essential and best to pack some emergency rations.

Macrobiotic food is popular in various parts of Japan and although it is not 100% vegan they use many whole foods and the dishes are often vegan-friendly.

Vegan friendly accommodation

There is a variety of vegan-friendly accommodation in Japan, including temple lodgings, guest houses, hiker’s guesthouses, ryokan, minshuku, and hotels. A great list has been compiled by the website isitveganjapan

A temple stay in Japan is known as a Shukubo and it's part of their tradition to welcome guests who want to experience the calm environment and even take part in some of the activities.

A shukubo is a temple stay that lets you experience the culture and history of Japan, including zazen, which calms your mind, Japanese gardens and healthy shojin vegetarian dishes. There is now a central booking website templelodging.com which lists the temples by region. Many now have their own english site.

Vegan food shopping

You will have no problem finding your basic vegan ingredients in the supermarkets. For processed and ready made meals however it's far more complex. First you have to confront the obvious language barrier, as all labels are in Japanese. Worse still is that even when ingredients are listed, there is no obligation for manufacturers to list all the ingredients. They well may not see the need to mention that the flavours have been enhanced with use of dashi, fish powder or even animal fat. You will certainly find very few products with a big V to indicate any form of certification. Most people in Japan will not understand what that means, or what the fuss is about. So our advice is to stick to basic ingredients and prepare your own meals.

It’s possible to find certain vegan substitutes such as almond milk, dairy-free cheese, mayonnaise, etc., in some specialty shops or large supermarket chains. For a list of stores go here

Convenience Stores

Convenience stores or Konbinis are small shops that you can find almost, at every corner. They are super useful, especially because the prices are good and are open 24 hours. A visit to the supermarket will give you more options.

Here are some vegan-friendly products you can get at convenience stores:

• Fruits and vegetable, and salads with out seasoning.
• Tofu
• Beans: Adzuki Beans, Edamame
• Nuts, seeds, dates
• Nori seaweed
• Soy milk
• Flavours: Miso, Yuba, Soy sauce
• Rice and Noodles (udon, soba, rice)

Bread

Most of the bread that is mass produced is not vegan, containing eggs, dairy or even lard. It's better to go to bakeries where the bread is freshly baked and you should ask about the ingredients.

Alcohol

Japanese use a lot of alcohol ingredients like sake, mirin, sake lees and amazake in food. The kanji 酒 means alcohol is present.

Some common alcohol ingredients:

• 酒 = sake, generic word for alcohol
• 味醂, みりん = mirin (a type of rice cooking wine)
• 甘酒 = Amazake (low alcohol content fermented rice drink)
• 酒粕 = sake lees (pulp left from sake production)

Allergens

Japan takes food allergies seriously and is very transparent in regards to allergen information. Allergens are clearly labelled in almost all food places and on food products. The allergens that are required to be declared include egg, dairy, certain seafood and meats. Thanks to this, it’s pretty easy to spot the veg*n option. Note that some Japanese may not know the English word for allergens, so use “arerugi アレルギー” if needed. This helped me once while searching for vegan breads on a supermarket shelf. The store assistant only understood “arerugi information” and even helped read out the ingredients!

Allergies = アレルギー (arerugi)

Read more in this ariticle by morethanveggies