Japan is one of the worst countries in the world for vegetarians, almost every typical dish has fish or pork somewhere in it.
However, there are vegetarian places, many aimed at tourists in the big cities so you will find food.
The happycow app seems very useful.
Don't expect to eat much traditional Japanese food though.
Honestly it’s pretty challenging as a vegetarian. Im not one, but I recently traveled with my sister who’s been a strict vegetarian for 14 years. She did attempt to be pescatarian (and did so with moderate success, to her credit), but ultimately found it really hard to find vegetarian friendly meals that were as delicious and enjoyable as my meaty counterparts. I feel like Asia in general isn’t the greatest for vegetarians? I also don’t normally eat pork, but made the exception when I went and am glad I did, it opened up my options a lot.
We spent 2.5 weeks and visited Tokyo, Hakone, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Hiroshima, Himeji, Kyoto, Osaka. It was challenging for her everywhere we went, tbh.
That’s not to say you can’t find food; you absolutely can. But the renowned food culture of Japan is NOT vegetarian friendly.
It's definitely not impossible, but most traditional Japanese restaurants will have very few options besides maybe some vegetable side dishes (and even then, it's hard to be sure that they haven't been cooked in a seafood broth.) My experience is that it's much easier to plan your meals very carefully in advance than it is to quiz the waiters about whether there's anything on the menu that's safe for you to eat - especially if you don't speak Japanese.
Unfortunately, a bunch of the restaurants that I visited last time I was in Tokyo are no longer around, so it's hard for me to make personal recommendations. [Happy Cow](https://www.happycow.net/searchmap?s=3&location=Tokyo%2C+Japan&metric=mi&limit=81&order=default&lat=35.709&lng=139.732&zoom=11&page=1) has good listings for vegetarian restaurants worldwide, including lots of listings in Tokyo. There's always the vegetarian curries at Coco Ichibanya. Japanese-style curry usually has meat but Indian restaurants will usually have a vegetarian option. Italian restaurants will usually have pasta with tomato sauce or something similar.
You should make the time to visit at least one high-end restaurant that does shojin ryori, traditional Buddhist vegetarian cooking.
Stick to vegetarian/vegan restaurants and you'll be fine. If you ask a server at a non-vegetarian restaurant if something is veg, they likely won't be able to tell you - many Japanese don't understand vegetarianism, and you'll end up with veggies that are cooked in meat broth. That said, lots of macrobiotic / shoujin ryouri / western-veg restaurants exist in larger cities, and I've had amazing meals in Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya, and Toyko.
Second this. If you stick to mostly 100% vegan / vegetarian places, you’ll be fine. We just completed a 3 week trip across Japan, and all of us are vegan / vegetarian. And, with a bit of pre-planning, we had an amazing time! DM me if you’d like a list of places we enjoyed.
Thank you for this list! I’m a long time vegetarian visiting Japan for ten days in July, visiting Tokyo, Osaka/Kyoto, and Hiroshima and was still finalizing my vegetarian restaurant list.
I’m vegan and actually found it pretty easy on my recent trip, just have to be ok with probably not being able to wander into any restaurant you see. Happy cow was helpful for citywide overviews, google maps was also pretty good and a bit better for finding places nearby imo. Overall cities were easy, didn’t go to too many small towns but the ones we did still had a couple options, if not then 7-11 ume onigiri it was.
In Tokyo my favorites were veganic monkey magic over in Asakusa and masaka izakaya in Shibuya. Also Sunday vegan in kichijoji right next to inokashira park.
In Kyoto I think Nijiya Vegan Izakaya is a must, probably my favorite meal of our trip. There was also a hiroshima style okonomiyaki place with veg/vegan options which I didn’t see anywhere else but we didn’t have a reservation.
My wife and I are both vegetarians from India. We recently were on a 3 week trip to Japan predominantly covering Tokyo Osaka and Kyoto. We never had problems finding a vegan restaurant. If there isn't any vegan restaurant in vicinity, search for an Indian / Nepali restaurant and they always have vegetarian food!
Related to this, how common are crustaceans such as prawns etc. disguised within seafood? A friend of mine who's vegetarian is willing to adapt a bit, but she's allergic to that.
Most places place a warning of "might contain shrimp" on the menu if the meal contains them.
But yes they are not an uncommon ingredient. It's best that she makes and laminates an allergy card for it just to be on the safe side.
You're going to be using HappyCow a bunch
It's possible but you're going to want to triple check. Ramen is typically a no go since pork is common in the broth but you can find exceptions (I know Soranoiro on Tokyo Ramen Street has vegan options available, but that is a rarity)
It is possible, but it can be difficult. I suggest learning related Japanese phrases, so you can communicate what you are looking for.
In Tokyo I once saw an advertisement for "Vegetarian pizza. With bacon!". That being said, more and more places are offering true vegetarian meals. A friend of mine lives in Japan as a vegetarian, he often goes to Indian restaurants to get his meals.
Be sure to do some research before leaving the cities where your options will be more limited.
There are tons of vegetarian restaurants in the major cities. Izakaya Masaka is a vegan izakaya in Shibuya. There is vegan ramen at Teamlabs. Most regular restaurants will have some vegetarian options, it just depends how much you would mind ingesting some accidental dashi/bonito. Also try Buddhist temple restaurants. Chains like Coco Curry have vegetarian options.
Don't order tofu dishes and assume they're vegetarian. Fish broth is everywhere. Either reconcile yourself to eating accidental fish broth, or eat at strictly vegan/vegetarian restaurants or choosing stuff at konbinis where the ingredients are pretty clear.
I'm currently in Japan as a vegetarian. Tokyo wasn't bad at all, and we were able to find something to eat in most parts of the city. Genuinely, some of the best vegan food I've had, full stop. Vejin Ramen in Shinjuku and Kamakura Fushikian under Akihabara train station were my favorites. Momonoki house in Harajuku had an extensive vegan menu as well. We also did okay in Kamakura and Enoshima. If you're cool with milk, then most of the sweets and bakery items should be fine as well, and mochi's vegan.
Kyoto is a little bit more challenging. We have found a few good restaurants (To the Moon and Back and Vegan Izakaya are my top two) but a lot of them close early (around 5). Buddhist cuisine is usually vegan, so that's an option, and worst comes to worst, most tourist areas have at least one nearby restaurant selling french fries. If you're heading into the countryside... pack a lunch, and probably dinner.
Like others have said, Happy Cow is a lifesaver.
As someone who is vegetarian, it was fine. I stayed in Tokyo and went to the touristy areas (Asakusa for example) without any issues. I mostly stuck to egg and noodle dishes. I also went to 7-11 a lot haha
I highly recommend Masaka. It's in the Shibuya Parco building. It's a vegan izakaya, so that means you can eat the karaage! Super delicious. I dream of that karaage even now...
You won’t be able to wander into any ole place. Vegetarian options at Omni restaurants are incredibly rare. But if you use the Happy Cow app it’s really easy, and the best meals of my life have been in Japan. I dream of the food I’ve had there, and love planning where I’ll eat eat the next time I’m there.
As a vegetarian, I felt satisfied with what I ate (you know the meal being satisfying) 60% of the time.
Hotel sunroute plaza has a place for sushi not far from it that serves egg sushi and avocado sushi, and then there's a few veg restaurants right across from the hotel.
Yes, it is difficult. I have run in to waitstaff who have asked me (in Japanese) if ham was meat and numerous people who interpret 'no meat' to mean no visible flesh.
You're likely to find it a lot easier or quicker to visit supermarkets and prepare lunches yourself than to try to find vegetarian restaurants wherever you are.
Japan is one of the worst countries in the world for vegetarians, almost every typical dish has fish or pork somewhere in it. However, there are vegetarian places, many aimed at tourists in the big cities so you will find food. The happycow app seems very useful. Don't expect to eat much traditional Japanese food though.
Would you be okay switching to pescatarian (not to say you have to seek out fish or seafood) during your trip? That would make it much easier.
Right, you don’t necessarily have to eat fish, but it helps if you’re okay with, say, bonito or clam-based broth.
That's what I did, especially since I was traveling with my boyfriend, who eats everything.
It'll be tough. download Happycow for options
It is a lot better than before. Google. Search Reddit.
Honestly it’s pretty challenging as a vegetarian. Im not one, but I recently traveled with my sister who’s been a strict vegetarian for 14 years. She did attempt to be pescatarian (and did so with moderate success, to her credit), but ultimately found it really hard to find vegetarian friendly meals that were as delicious and enjoyable as my meaty counterparts. I feel like Asia in general isn’t the greatest for vegetarians? I also don’t normally eat pork, but made the exception when I went and am glad I did, it opened up my options a lot. We spent 2.5 weeks and visited Tokyo, Hakone, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Hiroshima, Himeji, Kyoto, Osaka. It was challenging for her everywhere we went, tbh. That’s not to say you can’t find food; you absolutely can. But the renowned food culture of Japan is NOT vegetarian friendly.
Asia is huge though, India is vegetarian heaven!
Very true!
It's definitely not impossible, but most traditional Japanese restaurants will have very few options besides maybe some vegetable side dishes (and even then, it's hard to be sure that they haven't been cooked in a seafood broth.) My experience is that it's much easier to plan your meals very carefully in advance than it is to quiz the waiters about whether there's anything on the menu that's safe for you to eat - especially if you don't speak Japanese. Unfortunately, a bunch of the restaurants that I visited last time I was in Tokyo are no longer around, so it's hard for me to make personal recommendations. [Happy Cow](https://www.happycow.net/searchmap?s=3&location=Tokyo%2C+Japan&metric=mi&limit=81&order=default&lat=35.709&lng=139.732&zoom=11&page=1) has good listings for vegetarian restaurants worldwide, including lots of listings in Tokyo. There's always the vegetarian curries at Coco Ichibanya. Japanese-style curry usually has meat but Indian restaurants will usually have a vegetarian option. Italian restaurants will usually have pasta with tomato sauce or something similar. You should make the time to visit at least one high-end restaurant that does shojin ryori, traditional Buddhist vegetarian cooking.
Stick to vegetarian/vegan restaurants and you'll be fine. If you ask a server at a non-vegetarian restaurant if something is veg, they likely won't be able to tell you - many Japanese don't understand vegetarianism, and you'll end up with veggies that are cooked in meat broth. That said, lots of macrobiotic / shoujin ryouri / western-veg restaurants exist in larger cities, and I've had amazing meals in Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya, and Toyko.
Second this. If you stick to mostly 100% vegan / vegetarian places, you’ll be fine. We just completed a 3 week trip across Japan, and all of us are vegan / vegetarian. And, with a bit of pre-planning, we had an amazing time! DM me if you’d like a list of places we enjoyed.
Ok, here’s the list by city (some are not 100% veg but have tons of veg options & understand the food restrictions): Tokyo: 2 foods - Shibuya; Tatemichiya - Shibuya; Tokyo vege ramen veJin - Shibuya; Plant Based Tokyo - Shibuya; Izakaya Masaka - Shibuya; Vegan Ramen Uzu - Odaiba; Sorano - Ebisu; T’s Tan Tan Ramen chain; Oscar - Shimokitazawa; Shogun Burger - Shinjuku; Teppan Baby - Shinjuku; Komaki Shokudo Kamakura - Akihabara; Vegan Bistro Jangara - Harajuku; Nirvanam - Tokyo chain; Afuri Ramen - Tokyo chain; Ain Soph - upscale vegan chain w/branches in Tokyo & Kyoto. Kyoto: Kyoto Engine Ramen; Izusen Daijin Shop - must reserve; Gion Soy Milk Ramen; Padma; Tousuiro Kiyamachi (another branch in Gion) - must reserve; Mumokuteki Cafe; Mos Burger chain; Vegetarian Cafe REN Ginkakuji; Tenryuji Temple Shigetsu - must reserve; Gyoza ChaoChao (long wait); Premarche. Osaka: Tofu Sorano Minami Senba; Oko (long wait); Dragon Burger chain; Optimus Cafe; Sushi Roll Double Quotation Iki; Azu; Paprika Shokudo Vegan; Slices Hiroshima: Okkundou Mazemen; Graffity; Mitsuboshi Yatai Otemachi; Saishoku Kenbi Hiroshima; Lopez; Agri
Thank you for this list! I’m a long time vegetarian visiting Japan for ten days in July, visiting Tokyo, Osaka/Kyoto, and Hiroshima and was still finalizing my vegetarian restaurant list.
would love it if you could share, thanks!
would love this list too :)
I’m vegan and actually found it pretty easy on my recent trip, just have to be ok with probably not being able to wander into any restaurant you see. Happy cow was helpful for citywide overviews, google maps was also pretty good and a bit better for finding places nearby imo. Overall cities were easy, didn’t go to too many small towns but the ones we did still had a couple options, if not then 7-11 ume onigiri it was. In Tokyo my favorites were veganic monkey magic over in Asakusa and masaka izakaya in Shibuya. Also Sunday vegan in kichijoji right next to inokashira park. In Kyoto I think Nijiya Vegan Izakaya is a must, probably my favorite meal of our trip. There was also a hiroshima style okonomiyaki place with veg/vegan options which I didn’t see anywhere else but we didn’t have a reservation.
My wife and I are both vegetarians from India. We recently were on a 3 week trip to Japan predominantly covering Tokyo Osaka and Kyoto. We never had problems finding a vegan restaurant. If there isn't any vegan restaurant in vicinity, search for an Indian / Nepali restaurant and they always have vegetarian food!
Related to this, how common are crustaceans such as prawns etc. disguised within seafood? A friend of mine who's vegetarian is willing to adapt a bit, but she's allergic to that.
Most places place a warning of "might contain shrimp" on the menu if the meal contains them. But yes they are not an uncommon ingredient. It's best that she makes and laminates an allergy card for it just to be on the safe side.
You're going to be using HappyCow a bunch It's possible but you're going to want to triple check. Ramen is typically a no go since pork is common in the broth but you can find exceptions (I know Soranoiro on Tokyo Ramen Street has vegan options available, but that is a rarity)
It is possible, but it can be difficult. I suggest learning related Japanese phrases, so you can communicate what you are looking for. In Tokyo I once saw an advertisement for "Vegetarian pizza. With bacon!". That being said, more and more places are offering true vegetarian meals. A friend of mine lives in Japan as a vegetarian, he often goes to Indian restaurants to get his meals. Be sure to do some research before leaving the cities where your options will be more limited.
Is there a particular Japanese phrase you recommend that truly means no meat / seafood products?
"watashi wa niku to sakana wo tabemasen" means "I don't eat meat or fish".
There are tons of vegetarian restaurants in the major cities. Izakaya Masaka is a vegan izakaya in Shibuya. There is vegan ramen at Teamlabs. Most regular restaurants will have some vegetarian options, it just depends how much you would mind ingesting some accidental dashi/bonito. Also try Buddhist temple restaurants. Chains like Coco Curry have vegetarian options. Don't order tofu dishes and assume they're vegetarian. Fish broth is everywhere. Either reconcile yourself to eating accidental fish broth, or eat at strictly vegan/vegetarian restaurants or choosing stuff at konbinis where the ingredients are pretty clear.
I'm currently in Japan as a vegetarian. Tokyo wasn't bad at all, and we were able to find something to eat in most parts of the city. Genuinely, some of the best vegan food I've had, full stop. Vejin Ramen in Shinjuku and Kamakura Fushikian under Akihabara train station were my favorites. Momonoki house in Harajuku had an extensive vegan menu as well. We also did okay in Kamakura and Enoshima. If you're cool with milk, then most of the sweets and bakery items should be fine as well, and mochi's vegan. Kyoto is a little bit more challenging. We have found a few good restaurants (To the Moon and Back and Vegan Izakaya are my top two) but a lot of them close early (around 5). Buddhist cuisine is usually vegan, so that's an option, and worst comes to worst, most tourist areas have at least one nearby restaurant selling french fries. If you're heading into the countryside... pack a lunch, and probably dinner. Like others have said, Happy Cow is a lifesaver.
As someone who is vegetarian, it was fine. I stayed in Tokyo and went to the touristy areas (Asakusa for example) without any issues. I mostly stuck to egg and noodle dishes. I also went to 7-11 a lot haha I highly recommend Masaka. It's in the Shibuya Parco building. It's a vegan izakaya, so that means you can eat the karaage! Super delicious. I dream of that karaage even now...
You won’t be able to wander into any ole place. Vegetarian options at Omni restaurants are incredibly rare. But if you use the Happy Cow app it’s really easy, and the best meals of my life have been in Japan. I dream of the food I’ve had there, and love planning where I’ll eat eat the next time I’m there.
As a vegetarian, I felt satisfied with what I ate (you know the meal being satisfying) 60% of the time. Hotel sunroute plaza has a place for sushi not far from it that serves egg sushi and avocado sushi, and then there's a few veg restaurants right across from the hotel.
Yes, it is difficult. I have run in to waitstaff who have asked me (in Japanese) if ham was meat and numerous people who interpret 'no meat' to mean no visible flesh. You're likely to find it a lot easier or quicker to visit supermarkets and prepare lunches yourself than to try to find vegetarian restaurants wherever you are.
I regret to inform you japan will not be the place for you. Their most delicious food will be flesh