Story by Karryn Cartelle

Being a vegetarian can be tough especially in a country where you can’t read or speak the language. At a recent dinner party hosted by the Tokyo Vegan Meetup Group we asked Miki Noguchi how hard it is going vege and what advice she could give us.

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Interview with Miki Noguchi, organizer

It’s not easy but it’s not impossible. It depends on your background and how much knowledge you are bringing into the city.

Miki believes that being a vegetarian means becoming a food label reader, as many products that look vegetarian can contain meat or fish ingredients. If you want to eat organic you should also check labels for the JAS symbol or choose to shop at organic and vegetarian friendly supermarkets like Natural House.

Along with organic supermarkets, more vegetarian restaurants are opening throughout the city. Herwin Walravens, author of the Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide, has said that 15 new vegetarian restaurants have opened since he published the first edition of his book. If visiting a non-vegetarian restaurant Miki advises bringing along a Japanese friend for help. She also warns:

Definitely any Japanese sauce will have some form of fish extract in it. Dipping sauce for noodles, broth for noodles, I’ve even read artcilse where in some Italian restaurants they’ll use stock in their tomato sauce. Most restaurants have waitresses are not very knowlegeable about what is in the food.

Even if you are not a vegetarian, you may be interested in eating healthier. Tokyo’s latest raw food restaurant, Veggie Paradise, can teach you how to prepare tasty raw food and macrobiotic cuisine. It also serves up fresh vegetarian fare. Yuki Itoh, owner of Veggie Paradise, notes on the trend.

Interview with Yuki Itoh, owner-chef

People have become more conscious about what they eat. They started giving up western medication and seeking a (more) effective way (to heal) through changing (diet).

It may be difficult being a vegetarian but things are slowly getting easier as more vegetarian products hit the market and more people become aware.

A little knowledge will go a long way here. Take a look at these websites to help you on your vegetarian journey.

Tokyo Vegan Meetup Group
Japan Living Foods Association
Alishan Organic Center
Vegan Japan
Tokyo Vegetarian Guide

Here are a few of the many vegetarian-friendly restaurants on our City Guide. Just mention you are vegetarian/vegan in advance and they are very cooperative in planning/serving a special menu for you and your guests.

Cardenas Chinois
Junkadelic
Barbacoa Grill
Fujimamas
Leroux
The Pink Cow
Pita The Great
Bon

And remember, you can always order food (vegetarian and non!) from our online shop.

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* Quotes have been slightly altered for print. For the accurate quotations, please refer to the video.

All Rights Reserved, Spinshell Inc.

Spinshell Reports are three minute episodes of useful information about visiting and living in Japan.

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Tags: dashi, english, japan, restaurants in japan, Tokyo, vegan, vegan restaurants, vegetarian, vegetarian restaurants

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