Add some vegetables and you can make an easy stir-fry. For more Japan tips see our post on planning a trip to Japan for everything you need to know. It’s not usually vegan-friendly unless you try it at a vegan restaurant. The Vie de France chain is found in many train stations and has options like margherita pizza slices, cheese rolls, garlic bread, and pastries. It often features in shojin ryori (Buddhist vegetarian) meals. They are happy to cater to vegetarians and served us an incredible meal in our tatami room. Share your travel photos with us by hashtagging your images with #visitjapanjp. Although Japan can be challenging as a vegetarian if you just wander into any restaurant, with some planning you can find some amazing meat-free meals. It’s also sold in convenience stores. Chopsticks are used to eat the ingredients and the broth is sipped directly from the bowl. You might do Osaka's Namba - Dotombori -Shinsaibashi area in the evening/night after visiting Nara. The best way to find local veggie gems is to search Google Maps, which should offer a few results for vegan ramen, vegan sushi and, of course, Western vegan options. Since our first visit to Japan in 2011 the situation has much improved. A great opportunity to try homemade kaiseki, a gourmet, multi-course traditional Japanese meal, is in a ryokan or traditional inn. Are you looking for Christmas gift ideas? Vegetable and eggplant vegetarian curry at CoCo Ichibanya. Oyaki is a speciality of the Nagano prefecture and we tried it in Matsumoto. Our vegetarian sushi feast in our room at Morizuya Ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen. katsuobushi nashi de onegai shimas – without bonito (fish) flakes please Vegetarian foods to try in Japan. Udon restaurants may also have a cold broth-free version. We loved the vegan ramen at T’s Tantan and Ramen Ouka. The hit-list of traditional foods that most people visit Japan with can be yours for the taking, just with a few precautionary measures. Some countries have strong cultural or religious traditions that promote vegetarianism, such as India, while other countries have secular ethical concerns, including animal rights, environmental protection, and health concerns. Copyright © Japan National Tourism Organization. The plain onigiri in 7-Eleven are just seasoned with vinegar and salt (they are now also labelled in English as Salted Rice Ball). Grilled rice balls in a soy sauce glaze are served with tofu, cold greens, and pickles on the side. Required fields are marked *. Check ahead to avoid any unpleasant surprises. I love the crunchy texture and salty, sweet and sour flavour that provides a contrast to the more delicately flavoured dishes. Taking a vegetarian cooking class in Japan is an excellent way to learn more about Japanese cuisine, make sense of the confusing ingredients, and learn what you can and can’t eat as a vegetarian. Amazing work! To be fair when I arrived Japan I sorta thought the same as you. Many will be filled with fish, but there are usually some umeboshi (sour pickled plum) and kombu (dried kelp) options. In today’s world, being a vegetarian is not easy (even more so if you are vegan) so putting vegetarian and Japan on the same equation just makes it hell a lot harder! Being a strict vegetarian even traces of fish or meat in the broth was not acceptable for me. ! Vegan and vegetarian cuisine of all kinds can be found throughout most big cities, so there's no need to forego your donut fix or wave goodbye to vegan pizza while you're traveling in Japan. An increasing number of ramen shops in Japan now offer vegan ramen, so you can enjoy this classic noodle soup without meat. Japan (2496 listings) Vegan Vegetarian Veg-Options Chains Filters 0. Meat dishes are very popular and fish broth is widely used in Japanese cuisine. In all honesty, Japan can be a tough country to be a vegetarian in, but in comparison to a decade ago the number of vegetarian-friendly restaurants and even the options at convenience stores have increased and improved significantly. The problem is the labels are usually in Japanese, so it is difficult to see which ones are vegetarian. Vegetarians can therefore enjoy a 100% vegetarian, and incredibly hearty, meal known as shojin ryori in the places Japanese Buddhism is largely practiced: in Koyasan, near Osaka and Kyoto, or in the mountains of Dewa Sanzan (Tohoku Region, south of Aomori). Although being a vegetarian in Japan is a daily challenge, it’s nothing that you can’t do! We’ve had some of the most unusual and delicious meals we have ever eaten there. …arimas ka? If you explain you don’t eat meat or fish, you should be able to get a vegetable-only version, although the stock will likely be fish based. It’s just nice to be able to sample the wider array of veggie-friendly restaurants in the cities for at least part of your trip. Vegetarian version of local speciality hoba miso at Sukuya in Takayama. We haven’t done one in Tokyo yet, but this vegan class with a Michelin chef in Shibuya looks great as does this five-course vegetarian meal in Ikebukuro (just a few stops from Shinjuku on the train). Read our guide to vegetarian restaurants in Tokyo for more details. Vinegared sushi rice stuffed in a fried tofu pouch. Tips, advice & vlogs from restaurants with veggie options in Tokyo and the rest of Japan. We also had a break from Japanese at the excellent Pizzeria Onda. We heated ours up at home and served with a salad. Google Maps — Vegetarian restaurants result for Tokyo Japanese Restaurants. Complete guide to vegetarian food in Japan After our first work-week in Japan, a much deserved celebration was due. Keep in mind that these foods are available in Japan as vegetarian dishes but individual restaurants may add fish flavoring and other non-vegetarian ingredients because there is little awareness of purely vegetarian diets. See our 2 week Japan itinerary for more details about what we ate in Nikko, Takayama, and Kanazawa. In Osaka, Okonomiyaki Chitose can do a vegetarian version (including one with noodles) if you ask. Rice crackers (senbei) are available everywhere from market stalls to convenience stores. They are delicious grilled rice dumplings served on a stick in a sesame and walnut sauce. It is coated with a sweet miso sauce and grilled until it caramelises and becomes golden and slightly charred. Fish seems to be in everything including the soup stock used to make miso soup. You can find a few vegetarian plates at almost any restaurant, but the choices tend to be quite limited. Vegetarian and vegan restaurants are a safe-zone where you don’t have to worry about animal products surprising you in your meal, or asking for modifications. Shojin Ryori is upscale Buddhist vegetarian food. Though Japan had a vegetable-oriented eating style in the past, food-westernization completely changed the landscape. Make sure you specify no dashi. Taking a vegetarian cooking class while you are in Japan is a fun way to learn more about Japanese cuisine and enjoy a delicious meal. Hats off to you sir! Lunch is usually much cheaper than dinner. The monks make it possible to enjoy delicious, healthy, creative Japanese meals and be sure that it is all vegan. Ours wasn’t a planned night out – But dinner was on the agenda. Slow Luck is a tiny place focused on using vegetables in creative ways and has a vegetarian menu. These multi-dish meals are beautifully presented and use seasonal ingredients. Our favourite vegetarian restaurant is Bon, which serves exquisite multi-course fucha ryori in beautiful tatami rooms. Ramen chains that have vegan ramen are Chabuton, Kyushu Jangara Ramen, and Afuri. Shojin Ryori lunch at Shigetsu, Tenryuji Temple, Kyoto. It’s easy to be vegetarian in Kyoto. It is reconstituted in water and becomes springy and sponge-like, absorbing the flavours it is cooked in. You won’t find many vegetarian restaurants in Japan, except Tokyo, maybe. Our vegetarian feast at Hotel Musashiya in Hakone. I have also asked a nearby stranger in pigeon Japanese “Dore umeboshi des ka?” (which one is pickled plum?) In nearby Okayama City there are a few options for vegetarians especially Yasai-Shokudo Koyama, which is a restaurant that focuses on vegetables and can make a vegan set meal. Don’t miss them if you are in the area. Japan is mostly mountains and has little arable land. These are some vegetarian Japanese meals and snacks to look out for. They have a vegetarian section of their English menu that explains the ingredients of the different types of okonomiyaki and we got ours without dashi by showing our vegetarian card. Happy Cow is an indispensable resource for finding vegetarian and vegan restaurants. You could also use Google Translate (see above). They also sell themselves on being healthy and have a number of vegetarian burgers on the menu—point to the picture menu to order. This works for restaurant menus too, although we found most places we visited had English menus. When you're outside of major cities, consider staying in a ryokan where they will be able to create spectacular feasts of vegetarian Japanese food if you contact them ahead of time with details of your dietary needs. It was surprisingly good, but it isn’t that filling so we were glad we had fries and onion rings with it. As well as onigiri, you can find inarizushi (sushi rice in a tofu pocket), edamame beans, pickled vegetables, boiled eggs, french fries (which were not as bad as you’d think), fruit including bananas and cut pineapple, salads (but be careful of the ingredients and dressing), plain cooked noodles, and lots of rice crackers and crisps. They aren’t as common as the other stores though. So, here I would like to list out some of the healthy options that are relatively easy to find in Japan and which a strict vegetarian like me can consume. Mos Burger now also offers soy patty burgers but these aren’t vegetarian. The umeboshi (pickled plum) is on the top right. In Tokyo this vegan class with a Michelin chef in Shibuya looks great, as does this five-course vegetarian meal in Ikebukuro. On our first trip to Japan we tried to avoid dashi as much as possible, but there were times when we didn’t have much choice so decided to be flexible about it. To avoid this order zaru soba (above), cold noodles that don’t come in broth. Please read our disclosure for more info. We ate yaki onigiri at an izakaya (Japanese pub). We also had a couple of delicious meals in our room at Morizuya Ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen, a small town a few hours from Kyoto or Osaka where you can hop between the town’s seven onsen (hot spring baths) in a kimono. The main flavour came from the salty nori seaweed and hot wasabi that it was served with. Pumpkin croquettes can be found in the deli section of supermarkets and some restaurants and make a delicious, cheap vegetarian meal. Naoshima Art Island is known for its contemporary art museums and iconic yellow pumpkin sculpture. It’s usually served with a dab of hot wasabi. It doesn’t have much flavour but is valued for its texture, which we found rather strange. Please read our, Our Favourite Vegetarian Restaurants in Japan, The 14 Best Vegetarian Restaurants in Tokyo, The 14 Best Vegetarian Restaurants in Osaka, 14 Stunning Places to See Kyoto Cherry Blossoms (On and Off the Beaten Path). Don’t be too worried though—although learning to read Kanji takes a lot of time, the spoken language is easier to pick up that I expected. Vegetarian sushi is not easy to find in Japan, but it is possible. One of the 12 courses of our vegan feast at Bon in Tokyo. We had tempura donburi, tempura on top of rice, at Tendon Tenya, an inexpensive tempura chain. Tofu is available in a staggering variety of shapes and textures. There have been quite a lot of Q&A about being vegetarian in Kyoto, so you might browse past posts. Fuji Tempura Idaten has a vegetable tempura set (skip the miso soup) and Peace Kawaguchiko has a vegetarian hot pot and a few noodle soups. Vegetarian cuisine in Japan is incredibly flavorful. A tofu and vegetable hotpot that is simmered at your table. It is often possible to find meals without meat or fish in them or at least restaurants may be willing to adapt meals for you, but the biggest problem is that fish stock or dashi is used in many dishes. Rice and vegan-friendly noodles make up the base of most dishes. So we put aside the jet lag and joined the traditional Friday night revelry in Yokohama. tamago – egg “It’s a Wild West,” Cohen observed of the vegetarian and vegan restaurant possibilities in Tokyo. Pickled vegetable (carrot) sushi at Komekichi Kozushi in Nikko. We had a fantastic fucha ryori meal, which is a version of shojin ryori with a focus on tea, at Bon in Tokyo. In fact, it was only when beef prices started to drop in the early 1990s did the consumption of meat in the country spike. You can now snag a vegan Whopper in Japan. Since chicken, fish, and stock may be considered "bejitarian," you may want to find a way to explain your diet that's more all-encompassing. 7-Eleven, Lawsons, and Family Mart are the most common convenience stores and you’ll find one on every block in cities. Since then I have been committed to this lifestyle and I love it! In Japan, this isn’t usually the case as vegetarianism just isn’t as common. For on-the-go protein, natto (fermented soybean) is available in ready-to-eat packages, but, be warned, the accompanying sauce is often dashi (fish stock). The best way to find local veggie gems is to search Google Maps, which should offer a few results for vegan ramen, vegan sushi and, of course, Western vegan options. And it features the same “smoky, fragrant taste” of its animal-based counterpart—made possible by the company’s unique “direct fire grilling method.” Although it usually isn’t vegetarian, it can be adapted to be by using vegetable fillings. They all have lots of entirely vegetarian or vegan restaurants. If you're a little adventurous, you may even discover some new ingredients to add to your vegan cooking arsenal when you go back home. Opt-out at any time (an unsubscribe link is at the bottom of every email). Chilli rice crackers at Nishiki market in Kyoto. All Rights Reserved. There is plenty of tofu in Japan and it is much higher quality than anywhere else in the world. The elegant and artfully prepared cuisine, served on beautiful plates and dishes of Kamakura lacquerware, tends to be made up of soybean-based foods, such as tofu, along with seasonal vegetables. Heinraku is a wonderful small restaurant in Takayama run by the friendliest lady and has pages of vegetarian options on the menu—I loved the Hida miso ramen. Whilst Japan is slowly becoming more accustomed and open to vegetarian options it still displays a certain ignorance towards and lack of knowledge of the concept: surprising when you think that vegetarian favourite, tofu, was first made popular here. If this doesn’t worry you then go ahead and dip the noodles in. We used them to book our stay at Hotel Musashiya, a lovely ryokan overlooking Lake Ashi in Hakone, where you can see Mount Fuji. We especially love the healthy and affordable set lunches that most of these places offer featuring rice, miso soup, pickles, and an array of tofu and vegetable dishes. We love the food culture and find vegetarian food in Japan to be high quality, beautifully presented, and healthy. We loved this Kyoto cooking class with Uzuki. It’s a jelly-like substance made from the root of the tuberous plant konjac. Tsukemono or Japanese pickled vegetables are an essential part of a Japanese meal and are always included in set meals. 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