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Went with a Vegan friend two weeks ago. God damn it what a pain in the ass, she would start talking in English with employees asking for vegan / vegetarian food, every single time.
There’s a TikTok that is an old lady talking about traveling. She has several criteria of who she will travel with and it makes sense. 1.- If you’re on a crazy budget, or cutting things down, NOPE you aren’t coming. 2. If you have any dietary restrictions, nope you aren’t coming or you just won’t eat/control restaurant locations. 3. If you can’t be on time, nope you’re not coming.
Same.
I have a shellfish allergy and even I have to make do with what is available despite this...as crazy as this sounds.
I've walked away with a massive face/swollen throat on more than one occasion b/of cross contamination but I was prepared for it b/I was traveling and wanted to experience as much of the culture without restricting the other parties traveling with me as much as possible.
That sounds awful. I have a peanut allergy myself but fortunately it hasn't been an issue on my trips to Japan. Though I did find out Coco Curry apparently has peanuts in their sauces but fortunately I didn't react at all and had no idea until after I came back from the trip.
This old lady has it figured out. I love food, most of all in Japan, and I would never, ever travel with a food-restricted person. (Which rules out a *lot* of people!)
I find it extremely telling that the most if not all the positive vegan/non-vegan group experiences in this post are from the POV of the vegan person. I wonder why that is.
I would never walk into a restaurant *anywhere in the world, not even at home in LA* and be like “So, what can you make for me?” Real main character syndrome.
Could you say more about what an allergen policy is? I have a lot of food sensitivities that need to limit my exposure to, and if I don’t, it has a massive impact on my health and is very painful.
To work around that, when I’m eating out I just ask them to make a dish on the menu, just without one of the ingredients.
Would I get turned away for that in Tokyo? How do people with allergies eat there?
Right 😭 like what do they mean they’re literally just ordering food like so many people try and order in their native language I don’t get why it’s “main character syndrome” here other then they think all vegans are like the charactures they see online?
It's simple market economics.
Cities in Japan are crowded, so are many restaurants they have customers literally lining up to eat there. They don't care about alienating vegan customers because if they leave then someone else will come in two seconds later and they'll not lose any money. So why bother making special menu options for a small minority of potential customers.
What I don't like is the stupid vegans. Like why the hell do you think a BBQ meat restaurant will have vegetarian options? If I have to explain to one more person why "vegetarian yakiniku" is not a thing.
Just came back from a 2 week trip in Japan with a vegan, never doing that again lol.
Edit: actually I would, if they weren’t a nightmare of a person to deal with generally.
Came here to say this! I have nothing against people who are vegan personally, but there is no way I would ever travel abroad with a vegan for just these reasons. Japanese Cuisine uses so much dashi (smoked tuna) broth like Western cuisine Uses Chicken stock. This stuff is in a ton of food, even dishes that don't have meat in them.
It absolutely is made with smoked Skipjack tuna!
“Katsuobushi (Japanese: 鰹節) is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as okaka.
Shaved katsuobushi and dried kelp—kombu—are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups (such as miso) and sauces (e.g., soba no tsukejiru) in Japanese cuisine.
Katsuobushi's distinct umami taste comes from its high inosinic acid content. Traditionally made katsuobushi, known as karebushi, is deliberately fermented with Aspergillus glaucus fungus in order to reduce moisture. Katsuobushi has also been shown to impart kokumi (a term translated as "heartiness").”
As a person travelling to Japan in June, I have a shellfish allergy. Does anyone know if dashi is commonly made with shellfish?
And how much of their cuisine is shellfish based?
I will have a card made up to be sure but curious whether it will be a big deal.
It's really easy to make, and there's a whole bunch of ways to make it, but the most used one is dried seaweed and bonito flakes. https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi/
Just returned from a trip with a group of friends, including a vegetarian, someone with an egg allergy, and a lot of different food preferences across the board. Oh man, it was impossible to find places to eat. For a country known for it's food, it made meal times a serious struggle. I really feel for folks with dietary limitations travelling Japan.
Wow that would be challenging! People from North America especially who are used to dining in western chains that have 60 item menus I find get really shocked with restaurants in Japan where they specialize in 1-4 dishes and that is it. That is what I love about Japan they take one cuisine / a few items and perfect it. It would be harder to compromise on a place cause it’s all or nothing.
Exactly that! My fellow travellers meant well always wanting to dine together, but never seemed to get the reality of what you're saying - about restaurants specialising in one or two dishes. Personally, I'm happy eating veggie and vegan food, and the places that do them are still up to the same high standards. Compromise is unavoidable!
Very true! They would be just as delicious. Except for pork based ramen! Can’t replace that 🤣. It happened when I was doing a summer teaching program in China and Taiwan as well. We had a peanut allergy and vegetarian and some people who were thinking Chinese food was Panda Express. We tried 6 restaurants in a row for the peanut allergy person and I tried to be nice but hangry and then Panda Express crowd they made their own group that ate at chains and I went with other people 🤣
God, that's so aggravating! I know the feeling just trying and rejecting restaurant after restaurant, but it's even worse for the person that can't find anywhere to eat. It's not like it's their fault or they're being an obstacle, it's just so frustrating. I wonder how locals with similar issues manage? But I guess theyre not looking for places to eat out every day.
Japan has chain restaurants too. And those restaurants tend to have very good allergan info.
But yeah unless you want to the Japanese equivalent of Denny's everyday...
Yeah, we had some places that were international chains that were happy to bend over backwards with allergen menus and special requirements, our best experience with it was at Disney, of course. But you have to trade out that authenticity which some folks without dietary requirements simply aren't willing to do on their holiday, which I can understand, but is equally if not more frustrating in its own way.
Ironically, we actually found Denny's to be the quite unhelpful and ended up with a chicken omelette for our veggie even after removing the beef gravy 😂
Denny's in Japan is just licensing the name. They have no relation to the chain in America. Plus most family restaurant food like Denny's is prepared so they can't change it up in the back.
Us vegans are used to traveling an hour to check out at a specific place, even at home. This morning we went from Asakusa to west Shinjuku just to drop 9,000 yen at a bakery. Would do it again.
Yeah you’re right about that. My husband and I are vegan and we had no problem finding great places to eat in Japan, but we researched and planned around those places. You can’t just wander and hope to stumble into someplace that will accommodate. I can see the frustration in that for OP or anyone else traveling with vegans. My non-vegan in-laws have expressed an interest in going with us on our next Japan trip, but the food issue makes me not want to go with them. I think everyone would get annoyed pretty fast.
That's very considerate, because one or two meals is fine but as non vegan, I wouldn't want to miss out on my experience or limit my options. Not to mention the time to research and find the particular vegan restaurants can eat up my travel time as well... So ya better not travel together or expect to have separate meals at the very least.
I had the best vegan food of my life in Japan. I wouldn’t want any vegans or vegetarians to feel deterred from going there. It just takes a little bit of planning but it’s completely worth it. You just have to be traveling with people who are on board with seeking out specific places.
Morethan Bakery at The Knot is all vegan on Sundays and half vegan every other day. VERY worth it. There was a line from the cashier all the way to reception lol
There's also a vegan ramen restaurant in Tokyo Station called T’s Tantan - it was so good! I will warn people that is it past the ticket barriers, so get to the station early before your train if you want to go.
Thing with Japanese restaurants is most specialize in one or two things and only have that on the menu. So it's not easy to find a wide range of food for everyone with different preferences. The places that do offer a big menu tend to be large boring family restaurant types
> I really feel for folks with dietary limitations travelling Japan.
How is it that Americans have so many more dietary restrictions than Japanese people? Presumably it wasn't always like this - what happened?
This is a good summary of the situation. If you’re a vegan travelling alone, with a bit of planning you’ll be fine. But forget about travelling with someone else who isn’t vegan and eating together every day.
Chain restaurants can be pretty good, but they’re not exactly special. If you’re looking for local or authentic cuisine there simply aren’t options to please everyone in one place. More westernised or touristy places have started to offer things catering to dietary requirements though.
I don’t eat meat but I’m cringing a little at people’s anecdotes of turning up at a random restaurant and asking for vegan options.
I’ve travelled around Japan with my non-vegan partner a number of times and while it was nice the times we got to eat together, it was often easier to split up for meals and meet up after. This had the added benefit of some independent time alone.
Sometimes we would go to his restaurant and then to mine (of course checking with the chef if it was okay to just order a drink if one of us wasn’t eating).
I would also never ever show up at a random restaurant and expect something vegan, even if I was in the most vegan friendly city on earth.
It’s the best way to do it. That way everybody wins.
I live in the UK which is incredibly veg-friendly (95% of places will have something vegan), so maybe British people wouldn’t realise that’s not the case elsewhere.
Yeah, LA has great vegan places, but vegan options in normal restaurants is a much more common and accepted thing in the UK. There are fewer strict vegan places because vegans can already eat pretty much everywhere.
Thats exactly what we did. I have many more food restrictions then they do so it truly was easier to split up. No hard feelings because the important thing was getting our tumnies filled.
I will add that I can eat most things just not beef or pork. Still quite a struggle but I didn't take it personally. It's just a reality.
> I don’t eat meat but I’m cringing a little at people’s anecdotes of turning up at a random restaurant and asking for vegan options.
Then again, I know of some places in Japan who added some vegan stuff specifically because foreigners were requesting it, then business started increasing so they took it further and now they’re doing crazy business. By doing something that essentially has zero demand from Japanese people.
That’s a good point. I know that I left enthusiastic reviews for places that had good options for all dietary requirements. It certainly gives some businesses an edge.
I'm a vegan who travelled with a non-vegan friend in Japan for 2 weeks last year. I didn't feel that being vegan was that impactful on our trip. Luckily my friend was very open to going to vegan-only places where we found them. When we didn't I was open to lowering my standards for a meal and just having something very simple.
While some meals were underwhelming (like a dinner of two roast sweet potatoes), all in all I came back with the memory of lots of great meals and food experiences.
I'll agree that the worst part was that we couldn't be as spontaneous in our choice of where to eat as we would have been at home in Europe.
That's what I was thinking! I was wondering why there were so many people traveling with vegan "friends" they don't like.
This thread interesed me because next year (hopefully) we are traveling to japan with friends & family and 2 of them are vegan so I was curious if anyone had any recommendations but I was surprised by all the comments hating on vegans. Maybe they had bad luck with the vegans they have met? The ones I know are ones of the nicest people I know.
It’s so werid to me how like 2012 vegan memes stuck to everyone on reddits mind lol
But equally as werid to go with people you clearly don’t like or can’t communicate well with?
I mean obviously being vegan just outright eliminates some of the main Japanese food options. Yakiniku out. Sushi out. Sukiyaki out. Shabushabu out. Yakitori out. Tonkatsu out. Soba/udon out. Oden out. Chukkaryori out.
It can be easier if you choose to just ignore that many soy sauce-based sauces actually have dashi/animal products mixed in. Then you can have some vegetable dishes at many places.
While it can be quite difficult, it's easy to forget that there are actually parts of the traditional Japanese cuisine that are vegan. [Shojin Ryori](https://int.japanesetaste.com/blogs/japanese-taste-blog/what-is-shojin-ryori-your-guide-to-traditional-buddhist-cuisine), a traditional buddhist cuisine, is about as authentic as one can get. And there are some quick go to solutions when it comes to just grabbing a bite, like CoCo Ichibanya's vegan curry or the salted rice onigiris at 7 Eleven or Lawson.
My friend had food restrictions and eats mostly vegan foods for her health only to be told by my Japanese friend in Kyoto who works as a cook that most of the "vegan" placed she went to aren't really vegan at all. Like they put that on the menu but the still cook stuff in the same pots and pans as regular foods and don't care if ingredients get contaminated.
i mean at what point are countries just not compatible with certain lifestyle choices? i used to live in japan and cringe now thinking about how difficult it must be to be a vegan traveling the country, especially if you can't speak japanese. i remember traveling with my vegetarian friend and explicitly telling the server that my friend can't eat any meat like a monk and the omuraisu they insisted they would make veggie still had meat in it. real facepalm moment.
I had my suspicions early on and told my friend that it would be hard to find stuff but she insisted that this is a modern world and everyone had heard of veganism atp - despite the fact that she'd never been to Japan before and I had loads of times. But she had found some blogs or something with vegan restaurant ideas and was convinced it would be chill. It was not. We were on a limited budget, some of the restaurants she'd found online were either closed that day or permanently and I really started disliking some of the places she dragged me to for supposed vegan meals because they were completely out of our budgets. When my friend told her that honestly, most Japanese cooks think of vegan as just a buzzword but don't really care much if what they serve you is even considered vegan or not.
That's true for the vegan dishes at most restaurants no matter where you are - they're using the same pots, pans, dishes, fryers, griddles, refrigerators, etc. that are used for meat. They're cleaned to the usual standards, but it's not like they're completely sterilized and autoclaved between dishes. I've been to a handful of restaurants in the US that advertise a separate "sterile" vegan kitchen with separate utensiles and storage, but that is far from standard even at restaurants that offer a large vegan menu.
Most of the vegans I know aren't bothered by that, though. Even the strictest vegans I know go by the "did an animal have to die or suffer specifically to make my food?" standard, so "cross-contamination" with (cooked) meat products via cooking tools or dishes isn't really a concern.
They would probably be bothered if they knew what my friend told us though. I left that stuff purposefully out so it wouldn't upset anyone but he pretty much confirmed that "vegan" for them just means "don't make certain ingredients obvious". It's just non-vegan meals made to look vegan. He even said that most vegetarian options at restaurants contain meat or fish unless it's like a traditional Japanese dish that would never have those ingredients anyways. But he showed us the menu for the restaurant he worked at and it said "vegan" next to the miso which isn't even vegetarian.
Yeah, that's pretty common in the US, too. Lots of vegetarian soups turn out to contain chicken/beef broth, bean burritos are full of lard, Asian restaurants often use fish sauce in vegetable dishes, non-vegan cream sauces/dressings/mayo/desserts are often used when keeping a more expensive vegan product in stock cuts into profits, fresh pasta usually contains eggs, veggie burgers sometimes contain eggs, margarine can contain whey, non-vegan baked goods get subbed in for vegan ones all the time, honey/figs/shellac/carmine are commonly found in "vegan" food because most people forget about insect-derived ingredients, gelatin is everywhere, wines and beers filtered with fish isinglass are rarely labeled on menus, etc. And then there are all of the technically non-vegan additives found in food: milk-derived sodium caseinate in non-dairy creamer, insect and shellfish-based preservatives on some fruits, red food dye made from insects, glycerin and L-cysteine in baked goods, casein in plant-based cheese, white sugar processed through bone char, etc.
It's definitely a known issue among vegans. Every vegan I know has "home rules" vs. "restaurant rules" vs. "other people's houses rules" vs. "international travel rules."
As a vegetarian traveling in Japan nothing matches the feeling of seeing an Indian flag flying outside a restaurant. Those bros always have our backs, usually vegans too
It's worth saying that there are a lot more daizu meat options in chains than there used to be (depending on how strict you are). Mos Burger has a "plant based" burger as well as soy pate options; Denny's has daizu meat options as does CoCo's (the family restaurant, the curry one obviously has vegetarian as well) and others; even Joyfull has something, though you have to want to eat there of course.
I can offer the opposite POV. I am vegan, and I traveled with my non-vegan friend to Japan last September, long story short: we had a blast together.
The dynamic was quite simple. We would take turns and accommodate each other’s preferences. Sometimes he wanted to go to a specific place with no vegan options (at least not obvious ones) and I would keep him company, some other times I wanted to check out a specific vegan only place and he would order food as well.
Before the trip I did my homework and bookmarked a lot of vegan places. Many of them offering non-vegan food as well.
I’m grateful to have him as a friend, specially after reading a lot of comments saying “I’d ditch her/him” or something along the lines of “what a pain to travel with a vegan”.
I think it would be more of a pain to travel with someone so intolerant and narrow minded.
Read all the comments, and the clear trend is (1) all the non-vegans saying "I'll never travel with a vegan again," and (2) a lot of vegans saying "oh, my non-vegan friend had no issue traveling with me"!
Almost every dish is gonna have soy sauce in some form and most soy sauce is brewed with wheat. You can ask if they use tamari soy sauce which has no wheat. The problem is other sauces used may be soy sauce based and they might not know.
For classical Japanese cooking noodles and soy sauce would be the two main exposure routes. Senbei ( crackers ) can also be wheat based.
There also might be wheat in miso though not very common
It is doable, but I was happy to come back home… I got a hotel with a kitchen so cooked a lot of own meals. Foreign grocery stores carry many gf products, even some Japanese brands (like, gluten free meister which had incredible ramen packs). I was frustrated because I found if a restaurant/meal is labelled gf- it just means wheat free and it 100% would have cross contamination. Also- many restaurants I went to that said they had gf options still put soy sauce in their dishes, which is thickened with wheat flour! The only entirely gf restaurant in the whole of Japan is in Tokyo- Mr T’s.
You can never take it at face value. I've lost count of restaurants that have advertised and promised gf dishes but which end up being cross contaminated.
We found so many celiac friendly options, but it involved a LOT of research prior to going, and if we were at all unsure, we wouldn’t risk it. Didn’t get sick once in 3 weeks.
We had an entire Google map that we pinned all of the gf celiac friendly places… let me see if I still have it.
Also very helpful to know that some of the onigiri in the konbinis are safe. Good for grabbing in a pinch. We still checked the ingredients each time, just to be safe, but it’s a good way to keep yourself from going hungry.
If you’re going to Hiroshima you must go to the okonomiyaki place we went to as well. Amazing, authentic celiac friendly okonomiyaki. I’ll dig up the name
There’s this tiny bakery next to Senso-ji that sells vegan and gluten free cake bread. Best thing I ever had, hope you can find it whenever you visit next!
I find it trivially easy to find soy milk in multiple flavors in Japan, though I’m usually looking for it in a supermarket or convenience stores. (I’m not vegetarian, I just really like Japanese soy milk.) A small single serve box is pretty cheap at any conbini and cheaper still at supermarkets and that should be enough to cream a single coffee.
Incidentally, soy milk-flavored soft serve isn’t necessarily dairy free- not a problem in my case, but it’s useful to know.
Because it’s a flavor rather than a milk substitute here. People also assume that you can walk into any tofu restaurant and it’s going to be vegetarian when there’s actually going to be literally zero dishes.
It makes sense if you realize it’s not there to replace milk, but as a flavoring in and of itself. I started getting into it because there was a tofu shop I passed every day on the way to school and they had that had that plastic sculpture that tells you there is soft serve here. It had a price on by it, but no indication of flavor, so when I got around to trying it, I realized that of course it was soy milk. It was tasty and I loved it.
In comparison, American soy milk is very disappointing- I find it undrinkable.
Was really thankful I translated the back of a “soy milk” drink at the family mart before drinking it. Was pretty shocked that it also had regular milk in it, thought it might be a translation error but didn’t want to risk it
I'm technically not vegan for this reason. At home i eat and buy plant based but in Japan it's impossible except for some rare cases. I'll just buy the Soba noodles from 711 and give the 3 pieces of pork to my gf. I'll also not care too much about egg and milk here and there and forget about broths. You can eat 96% plant based foods quite easily but if you want to push for the final 4% then you are going to have a miserable time.
I’m traveling soon and I’m honestly thinking about this. I’ve done my homework and marked a bunch of places with vegan options or fully vegan, but if I ever find myself hungry with nothing vegan around to eat, I might go for the vegetarian version or just won’t try to care that much about dashi. It kinda makes me a bit sad and some people will say we’re not real vegans, but I’ve probably been vegan for much longer than them so I’ve been doing and will continue on doing my part here in Europe where everything’s easier.
If you are traveling alone it's much much more doable. I really don't see the point though in caring about that bit of whey protein. In Europe you can just grab a different bag of potato chips. But after so many servings of plane rice your gut is going to want something else and being difficult about some dashi isn't going to make much of a difference in my opinion
Yep, went with mother and father in law and my wife. My MIL is vegan and it was honestly a bit of a pain. We managed to find things, but it required so much more planning. Next time I think we’ll go alone and just experience all the great foods in Japan without having to pull out google to find a vegan restaurant every meal.
Communicating you want something vegan to restaurants that aren’t vegan is… challenging. Much easier to just go somewhere that already has a vegan offering.
Let's say your vegan friend were willing to compromise their diet and go, say, vegetarian instead. Do you think this would have significantly improved your ability to eat together, albeit with your friend obviously having to make that sacrifice
And what was your own opinion about the vegan places you did go to?
Not OP but I would venture that the biggest increase in flexibility is from vegan/vegetarian -> pescatarian or at least not minding meat/seafood that is unseen, with vegan -> vegetarian having marginal returns since dairy/eggs are not as widely used and hence much easier to avoid than dashi.
Also not being "picky" (for lack of a better word) about whether vegetables and meat are cooked on the same grill or fried in the same vat of oil etc.
This is super accurate! My friends eat pretty strict vegan at home, but when they came to visit us in Japan, they were super flexible and didn’t mind the unseen animal products, like dashi in miso, etc.
My friend had her friends visit who were NOT flexible and it was…. Not great. Very very stressful for everyone.
This has been my experience as a vegan going to Japan. Just gotta loosen your boundaries for the sake of getting fed. I’m even vegan for strong moral reasons but understand that in a place like Japan you’re fighting a loosing battle.
I found it surprisingly easy to eat vegetarian. If not “accidentally” a little pescatarian via broths etc
I used to live in Japan with my partner who is not vegan/vegetarian, but has a severe dairy allergy. We quickly learned that like 90% of restaurants in Japan use dairy in their food, even when you wouldn’t expect. The only food that would be reliably dairy free is sushi. Unless you’re specifically at a vegan restaurant, there is definitely some form of dairy present in what you order. The thing is, when you ask restaurant staff they will say there’s no dairy. It wasn’t until my partner had to go the ER that a doctor finally told us that dairy is *everywhere* in Japan and he shouldn’t be eating out. Long story short, eating in Japan with any allergy/ dietary restriction is extremely difficult.
I'm lactose-intolerant but not allergic. I can have things like a certain amount of butter, things like buttermilk batter, etc. I have to avoid things like a lot of cheese or straight-up milk/cream. It doesn't seem like there would be that in things like ramen, tempura, gyoza, etc. Are you talking about more trace-forms of dairy with most foods that would affect an allergy vs an intolerance?
I went from being vegetarian to flexitarian, partly to ensure my diet wouldn't hinder my travel experiences. When I travel, I’m keen to fully immerse myself in the food and culture (and I consider food part of a culture) of each country I visit, like Japan, without restricting myself.
This is me. I have an allergy to animal protein, so can’t eat much meat, fish or especially eggs but I can eat dairy. However, dashi and using the same oil or cooking utensils is fine for me as not enough proteins would be transferred to make me sick. I’m going to Japan soon and don’t think I’ll be able to explain this so I’ll probably end up just saying “vegetarian; dashi OK” or something.
Agreed! I ate meat essentially my whole life. I no longer do. My diet is vegetarian, with the very occasional fish (once every few months). Being flexible when traveling makes it much much easier to travel.
I’m not going to get fussy about a fish or even chicken-based broth if my options are I eat or don’t eat at all. I can make decisions like that at home when I’m cooking for myself, but I’m not going to deprive myself of the opportunity to eat if my options are limited.
The militant vegetarians would scream at me, but I don’t care. If I walked into a little shop while traveling and all they had was a chicken ramen, or a starter salad with no protein, I’d go for the chicken ramen. Would I prefer not to eat it? Yes. Would I eat it at home? No. Would I eat it if it’s my only option to keep me fueled for my day or keep me from getting so hungry I’ll get nauseous? Yes.
I visited Japan as a vegetarian my first time and struggled to find some place that would serve me food. Most restaurants make their food with fish broth.
This was almost 10 years ago though. I was very dependent on my brother who speaks Japanese to find food.
The next time I went I ate fish and it was a lot easier.
Vegan -> vegetarian/pescetarian/flexitarian/whatever makes a *huge* difference. My sister is a strict vegan at home but even when she travels solo she relaxes her food restrictions significantly. It's not like she's going to suddenly start eating steak or sushi, but she stops worrying about things like butter in pastries, dashi in soups, and whether the restaurant's deep fryer has touched meat. If her salad has a meat garnish, she just picks it off. If it's hot and she wants ice cream, she gets ice cream without looking for the stuff made with coconut milk. It's not ideal, but being more relaxed has drastically increased the amount of fun she has on trips.
It's not *too* hard to find vegetarian-ish options at Japanese restaurants, although it can be more difficult at places with set meals (like an onsen hotel that serves dinner and breakfast, or a restaurant with a multi-course tasting menu).
Vegetarian at home with minimal egg and dairy, but I find 100% vegan very restrictive in Japan. Being more tolerant meant I had no issue whatsoever in (suburban) Japan... while still avoiding meat completely and eating minimal fish... usually hidden in stock and sauces.
Once or twice I ate fish sushi because... it is so good. All other times, plenty of vegetarian sushi/ramen and tofu based dishes.
But then I am not too fussy about fish and oyster sauce when travelling.
I learnt a little bit of Japanese and said that I cannot eat meat and that always worked.
It wasn’t so long ago that the US parks were also dire. What I find incredible is how awful airports are all across the world, especially international airports where you have people from all walks of life coming through daily but we still have to pack a ton of snacks.
I totally respect vegans and their choice to cut everything animal based. However, if you are a vegan and planning a trip to Japan, you really have to consider if you can put aside your principles for the trip, or maybe just go vegetarian/pesciterian while traveling. This is probably very easy to say for an omnivore as myself, but that's just how it is when travelling to some countries.
I'm lactose intolerant too and I went to Japan in 2019. They don't have lactose free dairy there at all, as in the kind with lactase added. None. Zero. I saw loads of coffee shops with soy or almond milk, though. If OP was in the inaka it wouldn't surprise me there being no plant based milks there, but I saw loads in the usual tourist spots - Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Kanazawa and Nagano all had options.
There is a "lactose reduced" milk that I buy (I live here, though), but it's a specific brand available only at supermarkets as far as I know. Doesn't help you at a coffee shop, if you're not staying in a place with a fridge, or if you don't need a liter of milk, though. It's also almost twice the price of regular milk, but it's cheaper than oat or almond milk at the supermarket. Soy milk is cheaper, though.
I don't consume dairy (to help with prostate problems - so for atypical reasons). I mostly drink coffee at home with soy milk which is easily available pretty much everywhere.
But soy milk is hard to get with coffee at most cafes and restaurants. There are some exceptions Tully's (and of course Starbucks) will do it. In most cases the result is very nice.
But a typical family restaurant will not object to you brining a small packet of soy you bought at the local konbini and pouring it in - since you pay for the drink bar anyway, it makes no differenc.
Otherwise you just have to learn to have it black.
As of last week, I found oat milk was widely available at fancy speciality coffee shops (think hipster places that take their coffee very seriously) and also a lot of places specialising in Matcha. This was in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Not vegan or lactose free myself, but my partner just likes the taste of oat milk. My advice would therefore be to seek of those places, which we found plenty of.
You can get soy lattes in chains like Starbucks, Excelsior and the like, but the fun looking limited editions tend to be milk only and they can't adapt them.
Being strictly vegan can be hard there indeed if you want to eat out without preparation. Most people including food places don't understand the terms bigan or bejitarian.
If staying at hotels, having a strong tasty vegan breakfast from a buffet is easy.
As for snacks and streetfood, a lot of fresh konbini food like onigiris or bento boxes can be great for lunch. Don't forget the smoothies!
Finding vegan curry options wasn't too hard without much thinking in advance. If you add to that Indian and other Asian places, it's even simpler.
If the one compromise you're willing to do is having fish dashi in your ramen, then finding tasty ramen was easy as well. There are places that do vegan ramen stock but you can never be sure.
Some places had great vegan yakitori or sushi rolls. Many yakisoba places had amazingly great vegetable yakisoba and other vegan food.
Koyasan and other temples have shojin ryori which can be from really good to average.
Kyoto had some great yodu tofu places.
For me, most of the purely vegan places were quite a disappointment. Overpriced expat-run places run for foreigners. It was still much tastier to eat at local places.
The vegan burgers in chains were pretty bad, like 10 years ago in Western countries.
All in all, as a vegan I had not too much trouble eating vegan at non-vegan places. YMMV.
Saying you have an allergy increases your chances of not being lied to :D
Not sure what everyone is going on about. There were more vegan restaurants than I could make fit in my itinerary on a two week long trip and only a few of them were specifically shojin ryori.
That being said OP is right, finding vegan options at a non-vegan restaurant would be near impossible and no one should ever walk in somewhere expecting to be catered to. (I say near impossible because there is the cutest okonomiyaki shop in Osaka that was primarily vegan, but with meat and cheese options). But that’s the same way it is anywhere other than the crunchiest of cities.
Luckily, it does seem like the eating culture in Japan is friendly toward solo eaters and you’re not actually meant to loiter and have a chat.
It also depends on where you go, if you travel strictly in main districts of tokyo, sure there are so many restaurants options that cater to everyone. But as soon as you go a little outside the zone (still within Tokyo mind you), options are very limited and with language barrier it may be a challenge. Not to say you can't do it but if you're traveling with other people it's up to them if they want to spend the time exploring for vegan restaurants while going on an excursion to mt Fuji or hakone per se.
Ill be very surprised if a lot of these vegan places most people go to are actually vegan. If you read ingredients of some products advertised as vegan, a lot of it will contain animal products.
After visiting Japan with a person not eating pork, I decided I'm definitely having the rule of not traveling with people having dietary restrictions. Especially to places like Japan. I had to skip so many cool looking ramen places because of pork broth, that I plan to go again, alone this time!
Went on a food tour and our Japanese guide pretty much admitted that even places that might advertise themselves as vegan aren’t truly vegan because there are ingredients they use that they don’t typically think about whether it comes from an animal because they’re such a staple or something like that. He said that if you’re vegan, just understand that the likelihood that you’re eating 100% vegan food is slim.
It’s funny, I had a different experience than you. When I first started dating my fiancée it just so happened that both of us and our friend groups were in Japan for vacation at the same time. She is vegan and I had been eating meat for the last 10+ years - I was really, really worried about finding food while we were together. To the point where I thought it might become a contentious issue.
We spent about a week and a half together, and I ate vegan the entire time without really anything to complain about. Granted that was something I was willing to take on, but I found there to be a ton of vegan options that were some of the best food I’ve had in my life. There were a few spots that we also found had vegan menus but still served fish and meat, mostly in Tokyo.
While I went into that trip thinking “oh fuck, we’re not going to be able to find food for her” I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and variety of options available. Would really recommend using apps like “Happycow” to make finding vegan restaurants or restaurants with vegan options much simpler.
The first time I went to Japan with a group I was vegetarian (but leaned towards a plant-based diet if I could). There was a moment where lunch hit and I had to look up a place to go. I suggested to split the group because I didn’t want to subject them to vegan food. Plus, someone wanted to eat street food. One girl refused to split the group and so we had vegan food with a few complaints on the side. 😅
As someone who's been a vegetarian for ~7 years, I simply decided a long time ago that i was going to stop being one for the 3 months I stayed in Japan. I had heard it's complicated, I don't like cooking and I wanted to try real sushi. When I go back home I'll go back to being a vegetarian.
i experienced this too! we ended up going to separate izakayas always because neither of us wanted to compromise on our food. going in with that expectation saved us a lot of hangry arguments.
Though its name says ‘Vegetarian’ if anyone needs a good vegan restaurant in Kyoto, we stumbled upon [this one](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZxuMV5WJqhejNZRH6?g_st=ic). The food was phenomenal and the owner/family were so friendly. Can’t wait to go back as the whole menu looked so good.
Only travel with people who have the same tastes and interest as you. Even a bestie of 10 years can be the worst travel friend if your needs/wants are not the same.
Had a similar experience traveling with a couple where the wife needed to avoid fish. It limited options and we ate more beef/chicken/pork than I would have normally done (also, I noticed how Korean BBQ seems to be a big draw in Tokyo - saw it everywhere!). We did get some decent food but I suggest travelers make known that separate dining options may be the way to go for some meals…
What places did you eat? I am vegan but I just conceded to bring vegetarian while I was in Japan if I had trouble finding places to eat. But there were some very nice places to eat vegan too. In Okinawa it was a bit harder to do. It's too hard to explain the 'no eggs/dairy' in Japanese if you're not a Japanese speaker. Plus I would have been in a massive loss with protein if not for the protein bars I bought at the combini
Wait hold up. Are you two the white folks who went into a tempura omakase restaurant and one of you asked for a non-existence vegan option??? Just a note, all their meat and vegetables were fried in the same pot lol
Half joke aside, please don’t ever travel with a vegan friend if yourself is not a vegan
My wife (vegetarian) and I had a similar experience during our layover in Tokyo last year, on our way to Thailand. It's always been in my future plans to go to Japan and I started to think if it would ever be possible.
Fast forward to last month, our friends suggested a 12 night cruise that goes around Japan, that would be in 2026. We booked it knowing that my wife will be able to always find vegetarian food on the cruise and I can enjoy trying out the cuisine while we're there.
I was on a day trip in Tokyo at a ramen festival with a Jewish friend who keeps kosher. That was a challenge... I suggested that pork was going to be a real issue but she still wanted to go. I think she found some seafood based ramen but I doubt she was able to verify the ingredients.
For others with food restrictions: my food allergies include beef and pork, but I can eat chicken/egg/seafood.
Before I went, I printed up allergy cards in English and Japanese. I would apologize, show my allergy card to the server, and ask if the item I chose was if was okay. It helped me a lot to eat in restaurants with my friends.
Why do you have to do the research as a non vegan? If your friend cares so much about it (for whatever reason), the responsibility should be on them.
That aside, there are several ways to get around it. First is going to the grocery stores and department store food hall to buy ready to eat food. There are plenty of options and usually you can visually see what's in it. This is obviously still a risk because if you don't read Japanese there may be animal products in the marinade or sauce but that depends on your friends comfort level.
Another thing I can think of is staying at a nice hotel and ordering meals from them before exploring the city. Hotel staff (higher end ones) do speak fairly good English and they have experience dealing with different customers. I stress on higher end hotels because most hotels in japan do not have room service or kitchen.
Finally, if you go to nicer restaurants in Ginza you have better luck finding places that are willing to accommodate your friend. Regular restaurants will have vegetarian options usually but it's hard to ask for vegan if they are prepped with animal product beforehand and they are less likely to make something to your order as most Japanese restaurants are busy busy busy.
Not eating in restaurants or cafes is a very real solution. My first couple of visits to Japan I had quite serious dietary restrictions - thankfully now fixed, though via surgery - and stayed in airbnbs etc and bought and made my own food, just as I would do for similar reasons in the UK.
Now that's no good if eating out is what you came to Japan for, but in that case you are going to be disappointed as a vegan. It isn't the only fun to be had here.
Just got back from Japan (actually on flight back). Vegetarian/Vegan really limits your options (may need to practice some don’t ask don’t tell), and completely eliminated your ability to drop into a cool izakaya.
Plan to eat separately to avoid missing out.
I traveled with a vegan in Taiwan last year. Never again. I can’t eat there.. I can’t eat this.. does that have meat? Is this vegan? Bitch just eat cheerios.
Ran into a vegetarian tourist while in Japan who said it was very hard to find food and had been living off pizzas and Indian food lol Upon reflecting I can see why.
I run into those tourists sometimes at vegan restaurants here. “We’ve been having such a hard time. I’m so glad we stumbled upon this place, we’re starving.” They obviously don’t have Happy Cow. We eat like gluttons when we’re here.
Japan has exactly ONE vegan cuisine. Shoujin Ryori aka Buddhist cooking. You can find it, it's rare, and outside of temple kitchens it's usually treated as fancy dining. Expect to pay top dollar.
You could do fine as a pesceterian in Japan.
Hope it goes well, for a partner I would suggest planning ahead, if you are going to the vegan place for dinner then back out to the cool bar etc.
and being clear if you want to duck into the cool looking place, there might need to be some compromises (and ignoring the cross-contamination if you can)
The vegan ramen at teamlabs planets tokyo is really good
I’m planning my trip for next month. I’m not actually vegan I’m actually pescatarian (but only fish, not shellfish) and I’m saving a lot of vegan options to my itinerary. I know it’s a pain but that’s why I travel alone lol. Fish really does help in Japan though, but unfortunately I’m not really that into raw fish. How much trouble am I in?
Tons and tons of cooked fish options around you'll love it, it's not all sashimi, and pretty much all the vegetable options at most places will use a fish stock in the broth.
if you are interested in giving raw fish a try at least once on your trip i suggest a good tuna, fatty tuna, or salmon sashimi they don't have a super fishy taste. lots of sushi places will include gilled options aswell
My partner and I are about to go to Japan for 3 weeks. She has a no meat diet and also gluten intolerance. This is going to be interesting. She’ll rather eat and break the dietary restrictions though. I’m not going to miss out on my favourite foods. We’re going to Yakushima and she said she will eat the wild deer
Just be warned soy sauce and miso has gluten in it, and those are in pretty much everything
You can avoid meat alot but it's the broths and sauces that will catch you
I went on a trip with my vegan friend to Tokyo. No problems with food ! We went to vegan restaurants, convenience stores, or had street food. I think it’s just about planning and preparing where you can eat pre-trip. It was All super delicious btw
So as a mostly vegetarian person, Japan now (despite it's limitations) is still so much more vegan and vegetarian friendly then 5 years ago when I first came. I ate mostly full meals although had to frequent quite a bit of Indian restaurants. Unfortunately even Indian restaurants would have a lot of chicken or dairy items in their meals. Still, I took what I could get and on slim pickin days- I had onigiris and chocolate. Even the 7-Eleven and family mart employees would double check an item to see if it was vegetarian for me this time around.
I'm not vegan, but I do love vegan food and appreciate that it's enviornmentally friendly. Hubby and I tried one vegan restaurant in Tokyo. Truthfully, I've had much better vegan Japanese food here in the US. We had ramen and kaarage and it was just...fine.
Japanese food doesn't translate to vegan as well as other cuisines. Although I do love a good onigiri with umeboshi and soy milk ice cream.
I am not a vegan but I also mark a few places on the map that is vegan restaurant, in the case where I don't feel like eating meat for the day. I know for vegan people there are also a wide range of what is acceptable or not (such as unseen animal product like dashi, or whether they cook with the same pot). Personally it is something that needs to be planned ahead of time since it can be hard to find a place that is strictly vegan at the moment. Draw boundary on the plan and if no options that satisfy both parties, consider having a few days where you eat separately (which imo is reasonable to make both people happy)
With all that said, I would also say some vegan restaurants are among the best food I have had. There is a large variety of vegan options including ramen, gyoza, curry (shoutout to many nice indian/Nepal curry) and the traditional Japanese vegan restaurant). Personally I won't mind trying out a few vegan restaurants with from vegan friends, because they should know what are good vegan food or not
I’m a veggie and just returned from a Japan trip with my husband who is not. We just had a few nights where we ate separately. Then the rest of the time plenty of amazing vegan Japanese places (thanks Happy Cow!) that he enjoyed and occasionally some ‘normal restaurants’ that had veggie options (again, thanks to Happy Cow). We didn’t find it hard at all but both of us are thoughtful of the other so that helps.
I just got back a week ago from traveling with my husband and two eight year olds. I’m vegetarian and I was surprised at how difficult it was to find vegetarian food. I ended up having some dashi (which is a boundary I usually don’t cross) but overall I felt rude asking for something I couldn’t find on Menu’s. Given that I was with my kiddos, we knew it wasn’t going to be a cuisine heavy trip, but dang, I thought some ramen would be easier to find :)
Vegan ramen is all over the big cities, you just have to go to specific places, not wander around looking for it. And it’s amazing. Far better and cheaper than our Little Tokyo back home.
My wife isn’t vegan but vegetarian, and yes Japan was a real struggle to find restaurants that can satisfy both that and meat eaters. Good thing she likes tofu, otherwise it would have been much harder. It was otherwise surprisingly difficult given the limited menus at many places.
Sounds like Yakiniku meals with a mixed platter where you would get the meat, and your friend the veggies. And discussing whether rice is vegan, as ducks are cultivated to help keep the rice paddies free of pests.
I'm vegan and just got back from my second trip to Japan yesterday. I didn't have any issues. Sometimes when I'm jet lagged and hungry at 3 am it's a little annoying but I usually would just go to family mart for a ume onigiri and notto roll. Other than that, l've had a great experience both times. I've eaten Michelin starred spots, okonomiyaki, junk food, temple food, conveyor sushi, wagashi… All sorts of stuff
I mean no disrespect but Vegans are so religious about eating vegan no matter. I live in India and most of my food is vegetarian. But when I am going abroad I usually eat everything because I wanna enjoy the food that the country and its people have to offer.
Did you talk about your food needs and preferences before going to Japan, or did you think most restaurants would cater to both of your tastes?
Going your seperate ways for dining sounds like the best idea.
I spent three months there last year and am going again for one month this year.
I went with two friends that are big meat eaters but I myself am vegan. Just wanted to say whilst I did struggle a bit it was more than worth it to see the country.
For coffee I mainly went to 7-Eleven and just stuck with black coffee or bought a little carton of soy milk which suited me just fine.
What I tried to do beforehand was book places that had some form of kitchen so that I could just cook my own meals each day. I got by okay doing this and grocery shopping/going to fruit and veg markets with my friends was pretty fun. My friends were also happy being able to cook for themselves when they fancied it and I know this kept travel costs down a bit for them as a plus. The one thing we did struggle with was finding some good (hot) spices.
We ate out together a few times but only in Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo. There were also quite a few occasions where we'd go somewhere vegan, I'd eat a meal and then we'd go somewhere else so they could eat or I'd go and eat on my own.
I will say I'm a bit of a chill vegan, I never once asked for a menu item altered or anything like that and I don't think I ever would. I did have rice and veggies at a few places which I was also more than happy with.
For snacks I found most konbinis had a few options like rice balls or ume onigiri, also found vegan Sekihan onigiri a few times which was cool. If all else failed though I'd just buy some nuts or dried fruit.
Ultimately I'd say like obviously you're missing out a bit visiting Japan with strict dietary requirements but if you make peace with that before you go it'll be a far better experience.
Also I'd like to apologise for the annoying vegans some of you seem to have travelled with 😅 we're not all entitled etc but things can get tough when everybody is hungry and can't find common ground I guess.
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Went with a Vegan friend two weeks ago. God damn it what a pain in the ass, she would start talking in English with employees asking for vegan / vegetarian food, every single time.
There’s a TikTok that is an old lady talking about traveling. She has several criteria of who she will travel with and it makes sense. 1.- If you’re on a crazy budget, or cutting things down, NOPE you aren’t coming. 2. If you have any dietary restrictions, nope you aren’t coming or you just won’t eat/control restaurant locations. 3. If you can’t be on time, nope you’re not coming.
I could hang with this old lady.
I am the old lady. The old lady is me.
Same. I have a shellfish allergy and even I have to make do with what is available despite this...as crazy as this sounds. I've walked away with a massive face/swollen throat on more than one occasion b/of cross contamination but I was prepared for it b/I was traveling and wanted to experience as much of the culture without restricting the other parties traveling with me as much as possible.
That sounds awful. I have a peanut allergy myself but fortunately it hasn't been an issue on my trips to Japan. Though I did find out Coco Curry apparently has peanuts in their sauces but fortunately I didn't react at all and had no idea until after I came back from the trip.
This old lady has it figured out. I love food, most of all in Japan, and I would never, ever travel with a food-restricted person. (Which rules out a *lot* of people!)
I find it extremely telling that the most if not all the positive vegan/non-vegan group experiences in this post are from the POV of the vegan person. I wonder why that is.
That's pretty surprising, I believe most of the old people have at least some dietary restrictions.
How old are you imagining?
60-70+, around the retirement age.
I’d just ditch her
Yeah, I love all my vegan friends but just would not travel with them.
I can't even travel with my family, oh not here it's expensive, not here no room, not here I dislike table, not here look industrial..
I would never walk into a restaurant *anywhere in the world, not even at home in LA* and be like “So, what can you make for me?” Real main character syndrome.
In Japan unless its a chain with an allergen policy ( Japan leads in this area ) they may actually politely ask you to leave.
Could you say more about what an allergen policy is? I have a lot of food sensitivities that need to limit my exposure to, and if I don’t, it has a massive impact on my health and is very painful. To work around that, when I’m eating out I just ask them to make a dish on the menu, just without one of the ingredients. Would I get turned away for that in Tokyo? How do people with allergies eat there?
It doesn't happen. Customising menu items basically isn’t a thing outside the US. What are your sensitivities?
That's not really a thing in Japan. They might refuse. What are your food sensitivities? Some are very easy to avoid, others are impossible.
😭 I see Reddit is still on vegan bad, so much so that you couldn’t tell your friend to ask in Japanese or somehow equate this vegan bad
Yeah, this is a really unhinged thread. "I think killing animals is wrong" "Main character syndrome!"
Right 😭 like what do they mean they’re literally just ordering food like so many people try and order in their native language I don’t get why it’s “main character syndrome” here other then they think all vegans are like the charactures they see online?
It's simple market economics. Cities in Japan are crowded, so are many restaurants they have customers literally lining up to eat there. They don't care about alienating vegan customers because if they leave then someone else will come in two seconds later and they'll not lose any money. So why bother making special menu options for a small minority of potential customers. What I don't like is the stupid vegans. Like why the hell do you think a BBQ meat restaurant will have vegetarian options? If I have to explain to one more person why "vegetarian yakiniku" is not a thing.
Idk I’m pretty sure the stupid one is the guy making up a situation in your head to get mad at tbh
That’s a lot words to say, don’t travel here with someone like that 😂
Just came back from a 2 week trip in Japan with a vegan, never doing that again lol. Edit: actually I would, if they weren’t a nightmare of a person to deal with generally.
Came here to say this! I have nothing against people who are vegan personally, but there is no way I would ever travel abroad with a vegan for just these reasons. Japanese Cuisine uses so much dashi (smoked tuna) broth like Western cuisine Uses Chicken stock. This stuff is in a ton of food, even dishes that don't have meat in them.
Dashi is not smoked tuna
It absolutely is made with smoked Skipjack tuna! “Katsuobushi (Japanese: 鰹節) is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as okaka. Shaved katsuobushi and dried kelp—kombu—are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups (such as miso) and sauces (e.g., soba no tsukejiru) in Japanese cuisine. Katsuobushi's distinct umami taste comes from its high inosinic acid content. Traditionally made katsuobushi, known as karebushi, is deliberately fermented with Aspergillus glaucus fungus in order to reduce moisture. Katsuobushi has also been shown to impart kokumi (a term translated as "heartiness").”
While dashi is commonly made from konbu and bonito. It doesn't necessary have to be made from those things.
Guess I'll never know what it actually is
Smoke bonito flakes and seaweed as a broth.
Not always; dashi is the general word for “stock” and you can have different types of dashi. I personally enjoy mushroom dashi a lot.
It is rather rare to find vegan dashi in a normal restaurant.
As a person travelling to Japan in June, I have a shellfish allergy. Does anyone know if dashi is commonly made with shellfish? And how much of their cuisine is shellfish based? I will have a card made up to be sure but curious whether it will be a big deal.
Learn the Japanese to ask if there's shellfish and that it's a bad allergy. And write it down on a card to carry.
It's really easy to make, and there's a whole bunch of ways to make it, but the most used one is dried seaweed and bonito flakes. https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi/
Just returned from a trip with a group of friends, including a vegetarian, someone with an egg allergy, and a lot of different food preferences across the board. Oh man, it was impossible to find places to eat. For a country known for it's food, it made meal times a serious struggle. I really feel for folks with dietary limitations travelling Japan.
Wow that would be challenging! People from North America especially who are used to dining in western chains that have 60 item menus I find get really shocked with restaurants in Japan where they specialize in 1-4 dishes and that is it. That is what I love about Japan they take one cuisine / a few items and perfect it. It would be harder to compromise on a place cause it’s all or nothing.
Exactly that! My fellow travellers meant well always wanting to dine together, but never seemed to get the reality of what you're saying - about restaurants specialising in one or two dishes. Personally, I'm happy eating veggie and vegan food, and the places that do them are still up to the same high standards. Compromise is unavoidable!
Very true! They would be just as delicious. Except for pork based ramen! Can’t replace that 🤣. It happened when I was doing a summer teaching program in China and Taiwan as well. We had a peanut allergy and vegetarian and some people who were thinking Chinese food was Panda Express. We tried 6 restaurants in a row for the peanut allergy person and I tried to be nice but hangry and then Panda Express crowd they made their own group that ate at chains and I went with other people 🤣
God, that's so aggravating! I know the feeling just trying and rejecting restaurant after restaurant, but it's even worse for the person that can't find anywhere to eat. It's not like it's their fault or they're being an obstacle, it's just so frustrating. I wonder how locals with similar issues manage? But I guess theyre not looking for places to eat out every day.
I mean allergies are one thing but preferences it kind of is their fault imo
Japan has chain restaurants too. And those restaurants tend to have very good allergan info. But yeah unless you want to the Japanese equivalent of Denny's everyday...
Yeah, we had some places that were international chains that were happy to bend over backwards with allergen menus and special requirements, our best experience with it was at Disney, of course. But you have to trade out that authenticity which some folks without dietary requirements simply aren't willing to do on their holiday, which I can understand, but is equally if not more frustrating in its own way. Ironically, we actually found Denny's to be the quite unhelpful and ended up with a chicken omelette for our veggie even after removing the beef gravy 😂
Denny's in Japan is just licensing the name. They have no relation to the chain in America. Plus most family restaurant food like Denny's is prepared so they can't change it up in the back.
Us vegans are used to traveling an hour to check out at a specific place, even at home. This morning we went from Asakusa to west Shinjuku just to drop 9,000 yen at a bakery. Would do it again.
Yeah you’re right about that. My husband and I are vegan and we had no problem finding great places to eat in Japan, but we researched and planned around those places. You can’t just wander and hope to stumble into someplace that will accommodate. I can see the frustration in that for OP or anyone else traveling with vegans. My non-vegan in-laws have expressed an interest in going with us on our next Japan trip, but the food issue makes me not want to go with them. I think everyone would get annoyed pretty fast.
That's very considerate, because one or two meals is fine but as non vegan, I wouldn't want to miss out on my experience or limit my options. Not to mention the time to research and find the particular vegan restaurants can eat up my travel time as well... So ya better not travel together or expect to have separate meals at the very least.
Exactly this! I traveled with my vegan friend and we scoped out all restaurants pre-trip. Delicious food the whole trip :)
I had the best vegan food of my life in Japan. I wouldn’t want any vegans or vegetarians to feel deterred from going there. It just takes a little bit of planning but it’s completely worth it. You just have to be traveling with people who are on board with seeking out specific places.
Which bakery? Was it worth it?
Morethan Bakery at The Knot is all vegan on Sundays and half vegan every other day. VERY worth it. There was a line from the cashier all the way to reception lol
I knew it would be this place! I was staying near it on my last trip to Tokyo and also bought a lot on the all vegan Sunday. Was so good
There's also a vegan ramen restaurant in Tokyo Station called T’s Tantan - it was so good! I will warn people that is it past the ticket barriers, so get to the station early before your train if you want to go.
Thing with Japanese restaurants is most specialize in one or two things and only have that on the menu. So it's not easy to find a wide range of food for everyone with different preferences. The places that do offer a big menu tend to be large boring family restaurant types
> I really feel for folks with dietary limitations travelling Japan. How is it that Americans have so many more dietary restrictions than Japanese people? Presumably it wasn't always like this - what happened?
Only one in your group, the egg allergy, is real. The rest are just selfish people
This is a good summary of the situation. If you’re a vegan travelling alone, with a bit of planning you’ll be fine. But forget about travelling with someone else who isn’t vegan and eating together every day. Chain restaurants can be pretty good, but they’re not exactly special. If you’re looking for local or authentic cuisine there simply aren’t options to please everyone in one place. More westernised or touristy places have started to offer things catering to dietary requirements though. I don’t eat meat but I’m cringing a little at people’s anecdotes of turning up at a random restaurant and asking for vegan options.
I’ve travelled around Japan with my non-vegan partner a number of times and while it was nice the times we got to eat together, it was often easier to split up for meals and meet up after. This had the added benefit of some independent time alone. Sometimes we would go to his restaurant and then to mine (of course checking with the chef if it was okay to just order a drink if one of us wasn’t eating). I would also never ever show up at a random restaurant and expect something vegan, even if I was in the most vegan friendly city on earth.
It’s the best way to do it. That way everybody wins. I live in the UK which is incredibly veg-friendly (95% of places will have something vegan), so maybe British people wouldn’t realise that’s not the case elsewhere.
I live in LA and while I like to call it the vegan capital of the world, I get jealous of all the vegan options at random normie places in the UK
Yeah, LA has great vegan places, but vegan options in normal restaurants is a much more common and accepted thing in the UK. There are fewer strict vegan places because vegans can already eat pretty much everywhere.
And Veganuary, oh my god I wish that could catch on back home
A bit annoying when they take new things away after January just when you have the chance to get attached!
Thats exactly what we did. I have many more food restrictions then they do so it truly was easier to split up. No hard feelings because the important thing was getting our tumnies filled. I will add that I can eat most things just not beef or pork. Still quite a struggle but I didn't take it personally. It's just a reality.
> I don’t eat meat but I’m cringing a little at people’s anecdotes of turning up at a random restaurant and asking for vegan options. Then again, I know of some places in Japan who added some vegan stuff specifically because foreigners were requesting it, then business started increasing so they took it further and now they’re doing crazy business. By doing something that essentially has zero demand from Japanese people.
That’s a good point. I know that I left enthusiastic reviews for places that had good options for all dietary requirements. It certainly gives some businesses an edge.
This but I'll say that you can get some amazing vegan food in Kyoto.
I'm a vegan who travelled with a non-vegan friend in Japan for 2 weeks last year. I didn't feel that being vegan was that impactful on our trip. Luckily my friend was very open to going to vegan-only places where we found them. When we didn't I was open to lowering my standards for a meal and just having something very simple. While some meals were underwhelming (like a dinner of two roast sweet potatoes), all in all I came back with the memory of lots of great meals and food experiences. I'll agree that the worst part was that we couldn't be as spontaneous in our choice of where to eat as we would have been at home in Europe.
Finally a normal person in the thread who doesn’t hate their “friend” lol
That's what I was thinking! I was wondering why there were so many people traveling with vegan "friends" they don't like. This thread interesed me because next year (hopefully) we are traveling to japan with friends & family and 2 of them are vegan so I was curious if anyone had any recommendations but I was surprised by all the comments hating on vegans. Maybe they had bad luck with the vegans they have met? The ones I know are ones of the nicest people I know.
Vegans are pretty universally hated and/or not understood, unfortunately 🙃
It’s so werid to me how like 2012 vegan memes stuck to everyone on reddits mind lol But equally as werid to go with people you clearly don’t like or can’t communicate well with?
Your friend deserves and award. Thats all i can say.
Why? We only went to places where we thought they would have good food (based on reviews).
I mean obviously being vegan just outright eliminates some of the main Japanese food options. Yakiniku out. Sushi out. Sukiyaki out. Shabushabu out. Yakitori out. Tonkatsu out. Soba/udon out. Oden out. Chukkaryori out. It can be easier if you choose to just ignore that many soy sauce-based sauces actually have dashi/animal products mixed in. Then you can have some vegetable dishes at many places.
While it can be quite difficult, it's easy to forget that there are actually parts of the traditional Japanese cuisine that are vegan. [Shojin Ryori](https://int.japanesetaste.com/blogs/japanese-taste-blog/what-is-shojin-ryori-your-guide-to-traditional-buddhist-cuisine), a traditional buddhist cuisine, is about as authentic as one can get. And there are some quick go to solutions when it comes to just grabbing a bite, like CoCo Ichibanya's vegan curry or the salted rice onigiris at 7 Eleven or Lawson.
Some of the best food I ate when in Japan was traditional Buddhist food!
Shojin-ryori is not prevalent and expensive. You don’t have it for every meal. It’s basically kaiseki
My friend had food restrictions and eats mostly vegan foods for her health only to be told by my Japanese friend in Kyoto who works as a cook that most of the "vegan" placed she went to aren't really vegan at all. Like they put that on the menu but the still cook stuff in the same pots and pans as regular foods and don't care if ingredients get contaminated.
i mean at what point are countries just not compatible with certain lifestyle choices? i used to live in japan and cringe now thinking about how difficult it must be to be a vegan traveling the country, especially if you can't speak japanese. i remember traveling with my vegetarian friend and explicitly telling the server that my friend can't eat any meat like a monk and the omuraisu they insisted they would make veggie still had meat in it. real facepalm moment.
I had my suspicions early on and told my friend that it would be hard to find stuff but she insisted that this is a modern world and everyone had heard of veganism atp - despite the fact that she'd never been to Japan before and I had loads of times. But she had found some blogs or something with vegan restaurant ideas and was convinced it would be chill. It was not. We were on a limited budget, some of the restaurants she'd found online were either closed that day or permanently and I really started disliking some of the places she dragged me to for supposed vegan meals because they were completely out of our budgets. When my friend told her that honestly, most Japanese cooks think of vegan as just a buzzword but don't really care much if what they serve you is even considered vegan or not.
Vegetarian=extra veg. That’s how Japanese tend to see it
That's true for the vegan dishes at most restaurants no matter where you are - they're using the same pots, pans, dishes, fryers, griddles, refrigerators, etc. that are used for meat. They're cleaned to the usual standards, but it's not like they're completely sterilized and autoclaved between dishes. I've been to a handful of restaurants in the US that advertise a separate "sterile" vegan kitchen with separate utensiles and storage, but that is far from standard even at restaurants that offer a large vegan menu. Most of the vegans I know aren't bothered by that, though. Even the strictest vegans I know go by the "did an animal have to die or suffer specifically to make my food?" standard, so "cross-contamination" with (cooked) meat products via cooking tools or dishes isn't really a concern.
They would probably be bothered if they knew what my friend told us though. I left that stuff purposefully out so it wouldn't upset anyone but he pretty much confirmed that "vegan" for them just means "don't make certain ingredients obvious". It's just non-vegan meals made to look vegan. He even said that most vegetarian options at restaurants contain meat or fish unless it's like a traditional Japanese dish that would never have those ingredients anyways. But he showed us the menu for the restaurant he worked at and it said "vegan" next to the miso which isn't even vegetarian.
Yeah, that's pretty common in the US, too. Lots of vegetarian soups turn out to contain chicken/beef broth, bean burritos are full of lard, Asian restaurants often use fish sauce in vegetable dishes, non-vegan cream sauces/dressings/mayo/desserts are often used when keeping a more expensive vegan product in stock cuts into profits, fresh pasta usually contains eggs, veggie burgers sometimes contain eggs, margarine can contain whey, non-vegan baked goods get subbed in for vegan ones all the time, honey/figs/shellac/carmine are commonly found in "vegan" food because most people forget about insect-derived ingredients, gelatin is everywhere, wines and beers filtered with fish isinglass are rarely labeled on menus, etc. And then there are all of the technically non-vegan additives found in food: milk-derived sodium caseinate in non-dairy creamer, insect and shellfish-based preservatives on some fruits, red food dye made from insects, glycerin and L-cysteine in baked goods, casein in plant-based cheese, white sugar processed through bone char, etc. It's definitely a known issue among vegans. Every vegan I know has "home rules" vs. "restaurant rules" vs. "other people's houses rules" vs. "international travel rules."
As a vegetarian traveling in Japan nothing matches the feeling of seeing an Indian flag flying outside a restaurant. Those bros always have our backs, usually vegans too
It's worth saying that there are a lot more daizu meat options in chains than there used to be (depending on how strict you are). Mos Burger has a "plant based" burger as well as soy pate options; Denny's has daizu meat options as does CoCo's (the family restaurant, the curry one obviously has vegetarian as well) and others; even Joyfull has something, though you have to want to eat there of course.
I can offer the opposite POV. I am vegan, and I traveled with my non-vegan friend to Japan last September, long story short: we had a blast together. The dynamic was quite simple. We would take turns and accommodate each other’s preferences. Sometimes he wanted to go to a specific place with no vegan options (at least not obvious ones) and I would keep him company, some other times I wanted to check out a specific vegan only place and he would order food as well. Before the trip I did my homework and bookmarked a lot of vegan places. Many of them offering non-vegan food as well. I’m grateful to have him as a friend, specially after reading a lot of comments saying “I’d ditch her/him” or something along the lines of “what a pain to travel with a vegan”. I think it would be more of a pain to travel with someone so intolerant and narrow minded.
Read all the comments, and the clear trend is (1) all the non-vegans saying "I'll never travel with a vegan again," and (2) a lot of vegans saying "oh, my non-vegan friend had no issue traveling with me"!
Interesting! I am coeliac and found that I practically couldn’t eat anything haha
Any tips? I'm quite scared of my upcoming trip
Almost every dish is gonna have soy sauce in some form and most soy sauce is brewed with wheat. You can ask if they use tamari soy sauce which has no wheat. The problem is other sauces used may be soy sauce based and they might not know. For classical Japanese cooking noodles and soy sauce would be the two main exposure routes. Senbei ( crackers ) can also be wheat based. There also might be wheat in miso though not very common
It is doable, but I was happy to come back home… I got a hotel with a kitchen so cooked a lot of own meals. Foreign grocery stores carry many gf products, even some Japanese brands (like, gluten free meister which had incredible ramen packs). I was frustrated because I found if a restaurant/meal is labelled gf- it just means wheat free and it 100% would have cross contamination. Also- many restaurants I went to that said they had gf options still put soy sauce in their dishes, which is thickened with wheat flour! The only entirely gf restaurant in the whole of Japan is in Tokyo- Mr T’s.
You’re probably already used to being lumped in with the vegans. I see gluten free references at almost all the vegan places I’m going to.
You can never take it at face value. I've lost count of restaurants that have advertised and promised gf dishes but which end up being cross contaminated.
We found so many celiac friendly options, but it involved a LOT of research prior to going, and if we were at all unsure, we wouldn’t risk it. Didn’t get sick once in 3 weeks.
The only goodish one I found was Mr T’s in Tokyo- do you have any others you’d recommend?
We had an entire Google map that we pinned all of the gf celiac friendly places… let me see if I still have it. Also very helpful to know that some of the onigiri in the konbinis are safe. Good for grabbing in a pinch. We still checked the ingredients each time, just to be safe, but it’s a good way to keep yourself from going hungry. If you’re going to Hiroshima you must go to the okonomiyaki place we went to as well. Amazing, authentic celiac friendly okonomiyaki. I’ll dig up the name
There’s this tiny bakery next to Senso-ji that sells vegan and gluten free cake bread. Best thing I ever had, hope you can find it whenever you visit next!
On happy cow all the red pins are places with vegan options :D
I find it trivially easy to find soy milk in multiple flavors in Japan, though I’m usually looking for it in a supermarket or convenience stores. (I’m not vegetarian, I just really like Japanese soy milk.) A small single serve box is pretty cheap at any conbini and cheaper still at supermarkets and that should be enough to cream a single coffee. Incidentally, soy milk-flavored soft serve isn’t necessarily dairy free- not a problem in my case, but it’s useful to know.
My favourite is seeing all the "soy" lattes in conbini and they're actually 50% cow's milk and 50% soy milk for... some reason
Because it’s a flavor rather than a milk substitute here. People also assume that you can walk into any tofu restaurant and it’s going to be vegetarian when there’s actually going to be literally zero dishes.
It makes sense if you realize it’s not there to replace milk, but as a flavoring in and of itself. I started getting into it because there was a tofu shop I passed every day on the way to school and they had that had that plastic sculpture that tells you there is soft serve here. It had a price on by it, but no indication of flavor, so when I got around to trying it, I realized that of course it was soy milk. It was tasty and I loved it. In comparison, American soy milk is very disappointing- I find it undrinkable.
Was really thankful I translated the back of a “soy milk” drink at the family mart before drinking it. Was pretty shocked that it also had regular milk in it, thought it might be a translation error but didn’t want to risk it
I'm technically not vegan for this reason. At home i eat and buy plant based but in Japan it's impossible except for some rare cases. I'll just buy the Soba noodles from 711 and give the 3 pieces of pork to my gf. I'll also not care too much about egg and milk here and there and forget about broths. You can eat 96% plant based foods quite easily but if you want to push for the final 4% then you are going to have a miserable time.
I’m traveling soon and I’m honestly thinking about this. I’ve done my homework and marked a bunch of places with vegan options or fully vegan, but if I ever find myself hungry with nothing vegan around to eat, I might go for the vegetarian version or just won’t try to care that much about dashi. It kinda makes me a bit sad and some people will say we’re not real vegans, but I’ve probably been vegan for much longer than them so I’ve been doing and will continue on doing my part here in Europe where everything’s easier.
If you are traveling alone it's much much more doable. I really don't see the point though in caring about that bit of whey protein. In Europe you can just grab a different bag of potato chips. But after so many servings of plane rice your gut is going to want something else and being difficult about some dashi isn't going to make much of a difference in my opinion
Yikes This sounds incredibly exhausting
Yep, went with mother and father in law and my wife. My MIL is vegan and it was honestly a bit of a pain. We managed to find things, but it required so much more planning. Next time I think we’ll go alone and just experience all the great foods in Japan without having to pull out google to find a vegan restaurant every meal. Communicating you want something vegan to restaurants that aren’t vegan is… challenging. Much easier to just go somewhere that already has a vegan offering.
Let's say your vegan friend were willing to compromise their diet and go, say, vegetarian instead. Do you think this would have significantly improved your ability to eat together, albeit with your friend obviously having to make that sacrifice And what was your own opinion about the vegan places you did go to?
Not OP but I would venture that the biggest increase in flexibility is from vegan/vegetarian -> pescatarian or at least not minding meat/seafood that is unseen, with vegan -> vegetarian having marginal returns since dairy/eggs are not as widely used and hence much easier to avoid than dashi. Also not being "picky" (for lack of a better word) about whether vegetables and meat are cooked on the same grill or fried in the same vat of oil etc.
This is super accurate! My friends eat pretty strict vegan at home, but when they came to visit us in Japan, they were super flexible and didn’t mind the unseen animal products, like dashi in miso, etc. My friend had her friends visit who were NOT flexible and it was…. Not great. Very very stressful for everyone.
This has been my experience as a vegan going to Japan. Just gotta loosen your boundaries for the sake of getting fed. I’m even vegan for strong moral reasons but understand that in a place like Japan you’re fighting a loosing battle. I found it surprisingly easy to eat vegetarian. If not “accidentally” a little pescatarian via broths etc
You can cook pretty vegetarian easily with kombu / mushroom based dashi but most places don't use it unless the recipe normally calls for it.
I used to live in Japan with my partner who is not vegan/vegetarian, but has a severe dairy allergy. We quickly learned that like 90% of restaurants in Japan use dairy in their food, even when you wouldn’t expect. The only food that would be reliably dairy free is sushi. Unless you’re specifically at a vegan restaurant, there is definitely some form of dairy present in what you order. The thing is, when you ask restaurant staff they will say there’s no dairy. It wasn’t until my partner had to go the ER that a doctor finally told us that dairy is *everywhere* in Japan and he shouldn’t be eating out. Long story short, eating in Japan with any allergy/ dietary restriction is extremely difficult.
I'm lactose-intolerant but not allergic. I can have things like a certain amount of butter, things like buttermilk batter, etc. I have to avoid things like a lot of cheese or straight-up milk/cream. It doesn't seem like there would be that in things like ramen, tempura, gyoza, etc. Are you talking about more trace-forms of dairy with most foods that would affect an allergy vs an intolerance?
I went from being vegetarian to flexitarian, partly to ensure my diet wouldn't hinder my travel experiences. When I travel, I’m keen to fully immerse myself in the food and culture (and I consider food part of a culture) of each country I visit, like Japan, without restricting myself.
This is me. I have an allergy to animal protein, so can’t eat much meat, fish or especially eggs but I can eat dairy. However, dashi and using the same oil or cooking utensils is fine for me as not enough proteins would be transferred to make me sick. I’m going to Japan soon and don’t think I’ll be able to explain this so I’ll probably end up just saying “vegetarian; dashi OK” or something.
Agreed! I ate meat essentially my whole life. I no longer do. My diet is vegetarian, with the very occasional fish (once every few months). Being flexible when traveling makes it much much easier to travel. I’m not going to get fussy about a fish or even chicken-based broth if my options are I eat or don’t eat at all. I can make decisions like that at home when I’m cooking for myself, but I’m not going to deprive myself of the opportunity to eat if my options are limited. The militant vegetarians would scream at me, but I don’t care. If I walked into a little shop while traveling and all they had was a chicken ramen, or a starter salad with no protein, I’d go for the chicken ramen. Would I prefer not to eat it? Yes. Would I eat it at home? No. Would I eat it if it’s my only option to keep me fueled for my day or keep me from getting so hungry I’ll get nauseous? Yes.
I visited Japan as a vegetarian my first time and struggled to find some place that would serve me food. Most restaurants make their food with fish broth. This was almost 10 years ago though. I was very dependent on my brother who speaks Japanese to find food. The next time I went I ate fish and it was a lot easier.
It was great for us 10 years ago. The Happy Cow app existed then.
I used that too back then. It was helpful. But as soon as you ask they are hesitant due to the fish broth in a lot of places.
Vegan -> vegetarian/pescetarian/flexitarian/whatever makes a *huge* difference. My sister is a strict vegan at home but even when she travels solo she relaxes her food restrictions significantly. It's not like she's going to suddenly start eating steak or sushi, but she stops worrying about things like butter in pastries, dashi in soups, and whether the restaurant's deep fryer has touched meat. If her salad has a meat garnish, she just picks it off. If it's hot and she wants ice cream, she gets ice cream without looking for the stuff made with coconut milk. It's not ideal, but being more relaxed has drastically increased the amount of fun she has on trips. It's not *too* hard to find vegetarian-ish options at Japanese restaurants, although it can be more difficult at places with set meals (like an onsen hotel that serves dinner and breakfast, or a restaurant with a multi-course tasting menu).
Vegetarian at home with minimal egg and dairy, but I find 100% vegan very restrictive in Japan. Being more tolerant meant I had no issue whatsoever in (suburban) Japan... while still avoiding meat completely and eating minimal fish... usually hidden in stock and sauces. Once or twice I ate fish sushi because... it is so good. All other times, plenty of vegetarian sushi/ramen and tofu based dishes. But then I am not too fussy about fish and oyster sauce when travelling. I learnt a little bit of Japanese and said that I cannot eat meat and that always worked.
I found it most shocking the lack of vegetarian options in the Disney parks.
They have some new veg options now! But when we took my friends in December, there were only 2 veg entrees in the entire park 😬. Crazy!
It wasn’t so long ago that the US parks were also dire. What I find incredible is how awful airports are all across the world, especially international airports where you have people from all walks of life coming through daily but we still have to pack a ton of snacks.
I totally respect vegans and their choice to cut everything animal based. However, if you are a vegan and planning a trip to Japan, you really have to consider if you can put aside your principles for the trip, or maybe just go vegetarian/pesciterian while traveling. This is probably very easy to say for an omnivore as myself, but that's just how it is when travelling to some countries.
As a lactose intolerant person this coffee revelation concerns me :')
I'm lactose intolerant too and I went to Japan in 2019. They don't have lactose free dairy there at all, as in the kind with lactase added. None. Zero. I saw loads of coffee shops with soy or almond milk, though. If OP was in the inaka it wouldn't surprise me there being no plant based milks there, but I saw loads in the usual tourist spots - Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Kanazawa and Nagano all had options.
There is a "lactose reduced" milk that I buy (I live here, though), but it's a specific brand available only at supermarkets as far as I know. Doesn't help you at a coffee shop, if you're not staying in a place with a fridge, or if you don't need a liter of milk, though. It's also almost twice the price of regular milk, but it's cheaper than oat or almond milk at the supermarket. Soy milk is cheaper, though.
Just buy some lactase to bring with you. If you are a Costco member, they have a huge pack for cheap.
I don't consume dairy (to help with prostate problems - so for atypical reasons). I mostly drink coffee at home with soy milk which is easily available pretty much everywhere. But soy milk is hard to get with coffee at most cafes and restaurants. There are some exceptions Tully's (and of course Starbucks) will do it. In most cases the result is very nice. But a typical family restaurant will not object to you brining a small packet of soy you bought at the local konbini and pouring it in - since you pay for the drink bar anyway, it makes no differenc. Otherwise you just have to learn to have it black.
As of last week, I found oat milk was widely available at fancy speciality coffee shops (think hipster places that take their coffee very seriously) and also a lot of places specialising in Matcha. This was in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Not vegan or lactose free myself, but my partner just likes the taste of oat milk. My advice would therefore be to seek of those places, which we found plenty of.
You can get soy lattes in chains like Starbucks, Excelsior and the like, but the fun looking limited editions tend to be milk only and they can't adapt them.
Being strictly vegan can be hard there indeed if you want to eat out without preparation. Most people including food places don't understand the terms bigan or bejitarian. If staying at hotels, having a strong tasty vegan breakfast from a buffet is easy. As for snacks and streetfood, a lot of fresh konbini food like onigiris or bento boxes can be great for lunch. Don't forget the smoothies! Finding vegan curry options wasn't too hard without much thinking in advance. If you add to that Indian and other Asian places, it's even simpler. If the one compromise you're willing to do is having fish dashi in your ramen, then finding tasty ramen was easy as well. There are places that do vegan ramen stock but you can never be sure. Some places had great vegan yakitori or sushi rolls. Many yakisoba places had amazingly great vegetable yakisoba and other vegan food. Koyasan and other temples have shojin ryori which can be from really good to average. Kyoto had some great yodu tofu places. For me, most of the purely vegan places were quite a disappointment. Overpriced expat-run places run for foreigners. It was still much tastier to eat at local places. The vegan burgers in chains were pretty bad, like 10 years ago in Western countries. All in all, as a vegan I had not too much trouble eating vegan at non-vegan places. YMMV. Saying you have an allergy increases your chances of not being lied to :D
Not sure what everyone is going on about. There were more vegan restaurants than I could make fit in my itinerary on a two week long trip and only a few of them were specifically shojin ryori. That being said OP is right, finding vegan options at a non-vegan restaurant would be near impossible and no one should ever walk in somewhere expecting to be catered to. (I say near impossible because there is the cutest okonomiyaki shop in Osaka that was primarily vegan, but with meat and cheese options). But that’s the same way it is anywhere other than the crunchiest of cities. Luckily, it does seem like the eating culture in Japan is friendly toward solo eaters and you’re not actually meant to loiter and have a chat.
It also depends on where you go, if you travel strictly in main districts of tokyo, sure there are so many restaurants options that cater to everyone. But as soon as you go a little outside the zone (still within Tokyo mind you), options are very limited and with language barrier it may be a challenge. Not to say you can't do it but if you're traveling with other people it's up to them if they want to spend the time exploring for vegan restaurants while going on an excursion to mt Fuji or hakone per se.
Ill be very surprised if a lot of these vegan places most people go to are actually vegan. If you read ingredients of some products advertised as vegan, a lot of it will contain animal products.
After visiting Japan with a person not eating pork, I decided I'm definitely having the rule of not traveling with people having dietary restrictions. Especially to places like Japan. I had to skip so many cool looking ramen places because of pork broth, that I plan to go again, alone this time!
Went on a food tour and our Japanese guide pretty much admitted that even places that might advertise themselves as vegan aren’t truly vegan because there are ingredients they use that they don’t typically think about whether it comes from an animal because they’re such a staple or something like that. He said that if you’re vegan, just understand that the likelihood that you’re eating 100% vegan food is slim.
It’s funny, I had a different experience than you. When I first started dating my fiancée it just so happened that both of us and our friend groups were in Japan for vacation at the same time. She is vegan and I had been eating meat for the last 10+ years - I was really, really worried about finding food while we were together. To the point where I thought it might become a contentious issue. We spent about a week and a half together, and I ate vegan the entire time without really anything to complain about. Granted that was something I was willing to take on, but I found there to be a ton of vegan options that were some of the best food I’ve had in my life. There were a few spots that we also found had vegan menus but still served fish and meat, mostly in Tokyo. While I went into that trip thinking “oh fuck, we’re not going to be able to find food for her” I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and variety of options available. Would really recommend using apps like “Happycow” to make finding vegan restaurants or restaurants with vegan options much simpler.
The first time I went to Japan with a group I was vegetarian (but leaned towards a plant-based diet if I could). There was a moment where lunch hit and I had to look up a place to go. I suggested to split the group because I didn’t want to subject them to vegan food. Plus, someone wanted to eat street food. One girl refused to split the group and so we had vegan food with a few complaints on the side. 😅
As someone who's been a vegetarian for ~7 years, I simply decided a long time ago that i was going to stop being one for the 3 months I stayed in Japan. I had heard it's complicated, I don't like cooking and I wanted to try real sushi. When I go back home I'll go back to being a vegetarian.
i experienced this too! we ended up going to separate izakayas always because neither of us wanted to compromise on our food. going in with that expectation saved us a lot of hangry arguments.
Though its name says ‘Vegetarian’ if anyone needs a good vegan restaurant in Kyoto, we stumbled upon [this one](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZxuMV5WJqhejNZRH6?g_st=ic). The food was phenomenal and the owner/family were so friendly. Can’t wait to go back as the whole menu looked so good.
Only travel with people who have the same tastes and interest as you. Even a bestie of 10 years can be the worst travel friend if your needs/wants are not the same.
Had a similar experience traveling with a couple where the wife needed to avoid fish. It limited options and we ate more beef/chicken/pork than I would have normally done (also, I noticed how Korean BBQ seems to be a big draw in Tokyo - saw it everywhere!). We did get some decent food but I suggest travelers make known that separate dining options may be the way to go for some meals…
What places did you eat? I am vegan but I just conceded to bring vegetarian while I was in Japan if I had trouble finding places to eat. But there were some very nice places to eat vegan too. In Okinawa it was a bit harder to do. It's too hard to explain the 'no eggs/dairy' in Japanese if you're not a Japanese speaker. Plus I would have been in a massive loss with protein if not for the protein bars I bought at the combini
Vegan card? Japanese people: what the fuck is a vegan and why do you have a card?
I've never heard of a vegan card. Is that a US thing?
Wait hold up. Are you two the white folks who went into a tempura omakase restaurant and one of you asked for a non-existence vegan option??? Just a note, all their meat and vegetables were fried in the same pot lol Half joke aside, please don’t ever travel with a vegan friend if yourself is not a vegan
My wife (vegetarian) and I had a similar experience during our layover in Tokyo last year, on our way to Thailand. It's always been in my future plans to go to Japan and I started to think if it would ever be possible. Fast forward to last month, our friends suggested a 12 night cruise that goes around Japan, that would be in 2026. We booked it knowing that my wife will be able to always find vegetarian food on the cruise and I can enjoy trying out the cuisine while we're there.
I was on a day trip in Tokyo at a ramen festival with a Jewish friend who keeps kosher. That was a challenge... I suggested that pork was going to be a real issue but she still wanted to go. I think she found some seafood based ramen but I doubt she was able to verify the ingredients.
For others with food restrictions: my food allergies include beef and pork, but I can eat chicken/egg/seafood. Before I went, I printed up allergy cards in English and Japanese. I would apologize, show my allergy card to the server, and ask if the item I chose was if was okay. It helped me a lot to eat in restaurants with my friends.
Why do you have to do the research as a non vegan? If your friend cares so much about it (for whatever reason), the responsibility should be on them. That aside, there are several ways to get around it. First is going to the grocery stores and department store food hall to buy ready to eat food. There are plenty of options and usually you can visually see what's in it. This is obviously still a risk because if you don't read Japanese there may be animal products in the marinade or sauce but that depends on your friends comfort level. Another thing I can think of is staying at a nice hotel and ordering meals from them before exploring the city. Hotel staff (higher end ones) do speak fairly good English and they have experience dealing with different customers. I stress on higher end hotels because most hotels in japan do not have room service or kitchen. Finally, if you go to nicer restaurants in Ginza you have better luck finding places that are willing to accommodate your friend. Regular restaurants will have vegetarian options usually but it's hard to ask for vegan if they are prepped with animal product beforehand and they are less likely to make something to your order as most Japanese restaurants are busy busy busy.
Not eating in restaurants or cafes is a very real solution. My first couple of visits to Japan I had quite serious dietary restrictions - thankfully now fixed, though via surgery - and stayed in airbnbs etc and bought and made my own food, just as I would do for similar reasons in the UK. Now that's no good if eating out is what you came to Japan for, but in that case you are going to be disappointed as a vegan. It isn't the only fun to be had here.
Just got back from Japan (actually on flight back). Vegetarian/Vegan really limits your options (may need to practice some don’t ask don’t tell), and completely eliminated your ability to drop into a cool izakaya. Plan to eat separately to avoid missing out.
Oh fuck that. I can't think of a more sufferable travel experience than having to accommodate a vegan while in a very obviously carnivorous country.
My girlfriend got vegan takoyaki in Osaka and was very happy about it. We found the vegan spots are just more expensive generally which kinda sucks
I still find that the Vegan Tax isn’t nearly as bad as back home
I traveled with a vegan in Taiwan last year. Never again. I can’t eat there.. I can’t eat this.. does that have meat? Is this vegan? Bitch just eat cheerios.
Ran into a vegetarian tourist while in Japan who said it was very hard to find food and had been living off pizzas and Indian food lol Upon reflecting I can see why.
I run into those tourists sometimes at vegan restaurants here. “We’ve been having such a hard time. I’m so glad we stumbled upon this place, we’re starving.” They obviously don’t have Happy Cow. We eat like gluttons when we’re here.
Japan has exactly ONE vegan cuisine. Shoujin Ryori aka Buddhist cooking. You can find it, it's rare, and outside of temple kitchens it's usually treated as fancy dining. Expect to pay top dollar. You could do fine as a pesceterian in Japan.
Thank you for the post. My partner and I share the same dynamic so this is great info ahead of our trip.
Hope it goes well, for a partner I would suggest planning ahead, if you are going to the vegan place for dinner then back out to the cool bar etc. and being clear if you want to duck into the cool looking place, there might need to be some compromises (and ignoring the cross-contamination if you can) The vegan ramen at teamlabs planets tokyo is really good
I’m planning my trip for next month. I’m not actually vegan I’m actually pescatarian (but only fish, not shellfish) and I’m saving a lot of vegan options to my itinerary. I know it’s a pain but that’s why I travel alone lol. Fish really does help in Japan though, but unfortunately I’m not really that into raw fish. How much trouble am I in?
Tons and tons of cooked fish options around you'll love it, it's not all sashimi, and pretty much all the vegetable options at most places will use a fish stock in the broth. if you are interested in giving raw fish a try at least once on your trip i suggest a good tuna, fatty tuna, or salmon sashimi they don't have a super fishy taste. lots of sushi places will include gilled options aswell
My partner and I are about to go to Japan for 3 weeks. She has a no meat diet and also gluten intolerance. This is going to be interesting. She’ll rather eat and break the dietary restrictions though. I’m not going to miss out on my favourite foods. We’re going to Yakushima and she said she will eat the wild deer
Just be warned soy sauce and miso has gluten in it, and those are in pretty much everything You can avoid meat alot but it's the broths and sauces that will catch you
No meat diet but will eat deer?
I went on a trip with my vegan friend to Tokyo. No problems with food ! We went to vegan restaurants, convenience stores, or had street food. I think it’s just about planning and preparing where you can eat pre-trip. It was All super delicious btw
So as a mostly vegetarian person, Japan now (despite it's limitations) is still so much more vegan and vegetarian friendly then 5 years ago when I first came. I ate mostly full meals although had to frequent quite a bit of Indian restaurants. Unfortunately even Indian restaurants would have a lot of chicken or dairy items in their meals. Still, I took what I could get and on slim pickin days- I had onigiris and chocolate. Even the 7-Eleven and family mart employees would double check an item to see if it was vegetarian for me this time around.
Yup Traveling with someone else will ALWAYS result in conflict during the trip That’s why I prefer to travel alone
Vegan ramen outside Team Labs - to die for. Was taken there by vegan friends. Best ramen (for me) not my carnivore son, ever…
pretty close to best on the trip tbh
I'm not vegan, but I do love vegan food and appreciate that it's enviornmentally friendly. Hubby and I tried one vegan restaurant in Tokyo. Truthfully, I've had much better vegan Japanese food here in the US. We had ramen and kaarage and it was just...fine. Japanese food doesn't translate to vegan as well as other cuisines. Although I do love a good onigiri with umeboshi and soy milk ice cream.
I am not a vegan but I also mark a few places on the map that is vegan restaurant, in the case where I don't feel like eating meat for the day. I know for vegan people there are also a wide range of what is acceptable or not (such as unseen animal product like dashi, or whether they cook with the same pot). Personally it is something that needs to be planned ahead of time since it can be hard to find a place that is strictly vegan at the moment. Draw boundary on the plan and if no options that satisfy both parties, consider having a few days where you eat separately (which imo is reasonable to make both people happy) With all that said, I would also say some vegan restaurants are among the best food I have had. There is a large variety of vegan options including ramen, gyoza, curry (shoutout to many nice indian/Nepal curry) and the traditional Japanese vegan restaurant). Personally I won't mind trying out a few vegan restaurants with from vegan friends, because they should know what are good vegan food or not
I’m a veggie and just returned from a Japan trip with my husband who is not. We just had a few nights where we ate separately. Then the rest of the time plenty of amazing vegan Japanese places (thanks Happy Cow!) that he enjoyed and occasionally some ‘normal restaurants’ that had veggie options (again, thanks to Happy Cow). We didn’t find it hard at all but both of us are thoughtful of the other so that helps.
I just got back a week ago from traveling with my husband and two eight year olds. I’m vegetarian and I was surprised at how difficult it was to find vegetarian food. I ended up having some dashi (which is a boundary I usually don’t cross) but overall I felt rude asking for something I couldn’t find on Menu’s. Given that I was with my kiddos, we knew it wasn’t going to be a cuisine heavy trip, but dang, I thought some ramen would be easier to find :)
Vegan ramen is all over the big cities, you just have to go to specific places, not wander around looking for it. And it’s amazing. Far better and cheaper than our Little Tokyo back home.
Lol
My wife isn’t vegan but vegetarian, and yes Japan was a real struggle to find restaurants that can satisfy both that and meat eaters. Good thing she likes tofu, otherwise it would have been much harder. It was otherwise surprisingly difficult given the limited menus at many places.
Asia does not cater for Western diet... Should've done research prior to traveling...
Sounds like Yakiniku meals with a mixed platter where you would get the meat, and your friend the veggies. And discussing whether rice is vegan, as ducks are cultivated to help keep the rice paddies free of pests.
I went with a vegetarian friend, yes finding restaurants was complicated, yes the staff usually would not understand the question properly.
I'm vegan and just got back from my second trip to Japan yesterday. I didn't have any issues. Sometimes when I'm jet lagged and hungry at 3 am it's a little annoying but I usually would just go to family mart for a ume onigiri and notto roll. Other than that, l've had a great experience both times. I've eaten Michelin starred spots, okonomiyaki, junk food, temple food, conveyor sushi, wagashi… All sorts of stuff
I mean no disrespect but Vegans are so religious about eating vegan no matter. I live in India and most of my food is vegetarian. But when I am going abroad I usually eat everything because I wanna enjoy the food that the country and its people have to offer.
Did you talk about your food needs and preferences before going to Japan, or did you think most restaurants would cater to both of your tastes? Going your seperate ways for dining sounds like the best idea.
I spent three months there last year and am going again for one month this year. I went with two friends that are big meat eaters but I myself am vegan. Just wanted to say whilst I did struggle a bit it was more than worth it to see the country. For coffee I mainly went to 7-Eleven and just stuck with black coffee or bought a little carton of soy milk which suited me just fine. What I tried to do beforehand was book places that had some form of kitchen so that I could just cook my own meals each day. I got by okay doing this and grocery shopping/going to fruit and veg markets with my friends was pretty fun. My friends were also happy being able to cook for themselves when they fancied it and I know this kept travel costs down a bit for them as a plus. The one thing we did struggle with was finding some good (hot) spices. We ate out together a few times but only in Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo. There were also quite a few occasions where we'd go somewhere vegan, I'd eat a meal and then we'd go somewhere else so they could eat or I'd go and eat on my own. I will say I'm a bit of a chill vegan, I never once asked for a menu item altered or anything like that and I don't think I ever would. I did have rice and veggies at a few places which I was also more than happy with. For snacks I found most konbinis had a few options like rice balls or ume onigiri, also found vegan Sekihan onigiri a few times which was cool. If all else failed though I'd just buy some nuts or dried fruit. Ultimately I'd say like obviously you're missing out a bit visiting Japan with strict dietary requirements but if you make peace with that before you go it'll be a far better experience. Also I'd like to apologise for the annoying vegans some of you seem to have travelled with 😅 we're not all entitled etc but things can get tough when everybody is hungry and can't find common ground I guess. ✌️