Being Vegetarian in Tokyo / Japan 

It's all for you guys!

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Yes!! Always lots of great choices, yum! :-)

Agreed. Indian, Thai, or Vietnamese restaurants usually have vegetarian options no matter where you go!

i agree!

EVEN MEXICAN

​​@@varshakaul9587those aren't that common around the world actually. Especially not chain fake Mexican.

Thanks for the tip! :-)

Thank you so much!

Thanks man !

Is vegetarian and vegan considered the same thing in Japan? Like, no eggs and stuff..?

@@chariot5154 nah , for Western world vegetarian diet include eggs but in India , vegetarian means no meat , fish , egg etc.

Hope it helps! Lots of people are vegetarian here in the UK & veganism is becoming more popular too. Good luck with the class!

@@cakeswithfaces I just finished the class, my students really had fun with this video. Thank you so much! I hope that someday you can eat vegetarian katsu curry in Japan!

@@user-ti2gl2vi7p Ah I wish I could see the class! That's great to hear, thank you! Since recording this, they now have vegetarian katsu curry at Coco Curry - so delicious, I loved it! :-)

Wan a friend with me gagandeep7@gmail.com

@@cakeswithfaces hello

That's great to hear they were happy to prepare meals for you! There are more options now, and more vegetarian/vegan cafes. However if you're a vegetarian travelling with a meat eater (like me!) it's still tricky. Most places don't have vegetarian options, but if you do some research and take a list of places you know you can eat, it's do-able. I'm going back to Japan in a few weeks and looking forward to checking out some new places. And of course, I'll be sharing them on my channel and updating my restaurant list: www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk/japan/vegetarian-restaurants-in-japan/

Yes, I was worried about it too, but with a little planning it's not impossible! I'm hoping it will get easier too, with the increase in foreign visitors and the rugby and Olympics coming up.

Yes there are some horror stories! So I try and tell it like it is :-) It's not easy if you want to eat Japanese food, but it's possible with a bit of research!

Happy Cow is great! It's definitely easier if you research or find a specific place to go to - it can be difficult to find somewhere if you're just walking the streets looking, especially when you're hungry and tired!

+Cakes with Faces agreed! happycow is great but on a low budget it can be hard to get to certain restaurants :,(

Thanks so much! Lots of new Japan videos on the way from my recent trip - hope you enjoy them! :-)

That's great to hear! Have an amazing trip! :-D

Thanks! I heard so many horror stories before I first went that I just wanted to share how it really is, from my experience :-)

You're going to have an amazing time! Hope you find lots of delicious things to eat! :-)

+Lindsay Ah so glad it was in time! Have a fantastic trip!! ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

Thank you so much (:

Hope you find lots of delicious things to eat! :-)

Thanks so much!

Thanks, hope they help! :-)

J B The only way to be 100% sure would be to stick to vegetarian/vegan restaurants (make a list of them before you go). Because the term vegetarian isn’t completely well-known/ understood in the same way, that’s the way to be sure. Avoid any other meals with soup and sauces etc.

Thank you! I tried to include all the things I wanted to know before I first went! :-)

Glad to hear it! Since I made this video a few years ago there are more and more veggie restaurants - although it's still not common to find veggie options at regular restaurants, so I'd still recommend doing a bit of research and taking a list of places to go. :-)

Happy to be of service! 😄

Thanks so much, I hope it helps! :-)

Glad you found it useful! I'm going back to Japan next month & will be filming more places with vegetarian meals :-)

It's not easy but it's not impossible either, especially if you have a back-up list of options for when you're hungry and can't find anywhere! In the UK, everywhere has veggie options but in Europe it can be harder.

Thanks!! Hope you find it helpful! :-)

Thanks! Hope it's helpful! :-)

@@cakeswithfaces Very much so!😃

Glad you found some good options! I think when you're travelling with meat-eaters is the hardest (which I always am!!).

Thanks! That list will definitely be worthwhile. Have a great trip!

Stephen Pho if it's not a problem, can you share them? Thanks

Stephen can you share your list on jayesh1309@gmail.com

Thanks, glad you found it useful! On my recent trip I did more research than before and planned out more places to go, and it was so much less stressful, so I'd definitely recommend taking a list with you!

AmbyMT and tell me about your experience there how is it in japan it’s exiting to me to hear about it

Thank you!! Looking forward to trying Coco Ichi when we go back later this year! Finally a real Japanese curry, yay! :-D

Haha thank you, that's very kind of you! Hope you find lots of delicious things to eat!

Kartik Ganesh Glad you found it helpful! I was worried too before I first went, but you can survive! I’ve actually started writing a blog post sharing my list of restaurants - it’ll be on cakeswithface.co.uk when it’s done. And you can see a few in my other videos :-) I’m going to Kyushu next and doing lots of research as I think it might be a little harder than Tokyo.

its not hard at all

I think it's getting easier to be vegetarian in Japan - there are more veggie and vegan restaurants now, but most places still don't have a veggie option. Looking forward to trying all the delicious things at new places that have opened since I've been!

@@cakeswithfaces that is super reassuring! I can’t wait to visit Japan again!!

It can be tricky! To be realistic, with the language barrier you have to make a decision whether to avoid something completely if you're not sure, or whether you're ok with not really knowing, unless you're at a purely vegan/vegetarian restaurant. I'll be back in Japan soon so I'm looking forward to trying some new places. I'll be updating my restaurant list with anywhere good that I find!

@@cakeswithfaces Thank you for replying! The first vegan fruit sandwich shop looks wonderful from the links. I plan to check it in Shibuya when I am next in Japan in July of this year. Oh I love almost all music including ska-punk! I suspect someone in Japan does that genre, too; I wish you best luck in finding a show of them! Music shows are much of why I started going to Japan, initially from wanting to see Wink, Aoi Mizuno and Junna Morishita. I’ve gone to Ichigaya Live Inn magic (which became Honey Burst) the most. Including on days when I didn’t even know what musical acts would be playing, just to see a show, and TVTokyo filmed me there. I like to seek out a purely or mostly vegan restaurant and plan a day around that sometimes. I hope Kohrinbo in Nakano Broadway is still there; I’ve been there about fifty times; it is all vegan except occasional egg in the specials can be substituted with something else. It just sits nine people at the counters and the lady chef is very nice, doesn’t speak English, but I use some simple Japanese, point at menu things and sometimes a customer translates for me. I point at my bunny and chick Line Friends wallet to indicate I am ready for the check. I was amazed and disappointed to learn that natto is actually usually not vegan due to having fish sauce with it and gelatin related processing. (Except for one or two brands I’m not sure how to find.) I used to always look for convenience stores’ natto seaweed rolls when I was on the go and didn’t have time for a restaurant. Now I guess I’ll be having inari zushi, banana and plain looking chips at those times more often instead. I’ll be checking for your restaurant list updates!

Yes! At 7-Eleven they have English on the labels now - so much easier. I'm thinking the other convenience stores might follow suit in preparation for the Olympics and with the increase in foreign tourists.

I thiiiink all Coco Currys have vegetarian curry sauce now (it's listed in their standard menu book) - although you might need to check to be sure it doesn't contain honey. And yes, macribiotic places are a good bet! Glad you found lots of delicious things to eat!

Someone told me that last week about the Mos Burgers - it seems strange that they'd put chicken in a soy burger...? On their website, the allergen information is inconsistent - in some places it says chicken is just used on the same production line, and for other soy patty burgers it says pork, beef and chicken are ingredients. So if you're strict, it might be best to avoid it altogether. Personally, I avoid meat because I don't like it, and it doesn't appear or taste like it has meat in it, so my take is that it might just be fried in the same oil or made in the same factory. Realistically, I think a lot of veggie food is probably cooked in the same oil as meat when you eat out. So especially somewhere like Japan where veggie options are so hard to find, I try to be easy-going about it - but otherwise it's definitely safer to stick to 100% veggie places.

Thanks for the tip! My fav in Kyoto so far is Mimicou, they have delicious vegetarian curry udon!

Ah, glad to hear it was helpful for you! I was worried before going for the first time - it's not easy but with some planning you'll be ok! :-)

I'd love to go there one day and try it! I'm sure it's nothing like Indian restaurants at home 😊 Although I know I can always count on them for lots of choice!

Good luck, that'd be an amazing - you'd be able to experience so much! I think it's a different situation being vegetarian if you're cooking for yourself at home.

I hope it helps! :-) Thanks, the shirt's my own design! www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk/product-category/tshirts/

Great idea, I'd never thought of that! It makes sense that they'd cater for international students with different diets. Thanks for the suggestion! :-)

also omg familymart is the best thing ever!!

Thanks so much, there's lots more Japan vids on the way! :-) Happy Cow is so useful, wherever you're travelling to! And Family Mart - YES! The best thing I had from them recently was an apple and cinnamon sandwich, YUM!!

Hope it helps! Did you see my list of restaurants with veggie options? Hoping to update it when I can get back to Japan. My top rec is T's TanTan, so good!! 😋

So glad you found it helpful - it's not easy is it! I've just come back from Japan and this time I did a lot more research into places to eat, and it was so much easier and less stressful. I filmed lots of new places, so look out for them in my videos! :-)

Yes I noticed Taipei had many vegetarian options but Japan had none. I was very disappointed.

Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea have many places where you can eat delicious vegetarian food. I've noticed Japan is one of the SE Asian countries where vegetarian food can be a challenge to find if you're not prepared.

I'd love to try more Korean food - so far I've only had bibimbap, and I love it! A different set of flavours, so I's like to try more.

I was in Taipei pre covid but didn’t find any veggie place. I had to survive on delicious fruits and boba ☺️ Can you share where are they located?

Ooh how exciting! Have an amazing time!! (I'm going at the end of this week too!!) :-)

Thanks! It's not easy being vegetarian in Japan but you can get by with some preparation and planning! :-)

Thank you!!

Ooh exciting! This video's from a few years ago so it's slightly easier now - but still most restaurants don't have any veggie options, so you need to know where to go! And if you're living there you'll be able to cook for yourself at home and make the most of all the yummy ingredients from the supermarket.

@@cakeswithfaces thank you very much .

Yes, I found even cheap food is excellent quality, and it's great that there are vegetarian and vegan restaurants. With a little research you can eat well if you know where to go!

Ooh exciting!! I heard so many horror stories before I went about everything containing fish (and also a lot of people say it's easy). In my experience, it can be difficult but it's not impossible. If you're just browsing restaurants on the street looking for options, it can be frustrating, but with some research and preparation there are lots of places to eat. Dashi (fish stock) is the biggest problem. While konbu dashi (made with seaweed) does exist, when you're eating out the default version is made with dried tuna. There's a chance it may contain shellfish to make the broth, and communication could be difficult. The broth of meat-based ramen will often be pork-based so probably best avoid that unless you know it's safe. I'm not sure of all the details of a Jewish diet so sorry if I get anything wrong! But beyond vegetarian meals, there are options with chicken and other meats eg yakiniku or similar will be at most izakayas (bars with food), there's sushi and sashimi without shellfish at most sushi places, eel (unagi) and if you look them up there are non-pork ramen options eg Kagari Ramen in Ginza has chicken-based ramen. And there are non-Japanese restaurants eg Indian curry, burgers, Italian, which will have lots of options as a back-up. Of course if you're living there, you'll be able to cook at home and get ingredients to make your own non-pork, non-shellfish dishes, but you'll certainly be able to enjoy eating out as well! Hope that helps!

Thanks - but why?

To live in Japan as a vegetarian. :)

Yep, Mr. Farmer!! When I ate there they had the vegan menu too and it was AMAZING!! A little pricey but well worth it. I only ate there once sadly, but I had the veg burger.

Ooh thanks for the recommendations! :-)

Yes! I'm in Japan now filming (and eating!) lots! Was just saying yesterday I should do an updated version, so stay tuned. 😝

Yes, it certainly can be difficult! The first time I went, I didn't do much research and didn't have much luck finding restaurants with vegetarian options just walking around the streets. It's so much less stressful (and more healthy!) if you do some research - there are places with vegetarian options, but it's difficult to come across them just by walking around unfortunately!

Thanks for the tip! It's so hard to avoid dashi, it's in so many foods isn't it! I try and take the attitude of eating what I can get as there are so few options (especially as I travel with meat-eaters, so I'm usually not eating at vegetarian places).

Actually, McDonald’s fries only contain beef extract in the USA! You can’t have them here, but you can have them anywhere else in the world, including Japan :)

I'm lucky in the UK that almost all restaurants have a vegetarian option (even if it's not very good!) - and more so now that veganism's become so popular. It can be difficult when travelling though - especially when I went to France and they put ham in EVERYTHING!

Ah thank you!! Just been back to Japan and filmed lots more veggie places so I hope you find them useful too! :-)

Yes, if you know some Japanese you can politely ask for menu items to be modified - I've tried that with varying levels of success, but it's great when it works!

@@cakeswithfaces you know, itz not easy for them to change anything. they prepared everything in that same day, ready to go. for the chef back in the kitchen, the task is just to heat the food and mix with prepared souses. so when i ask for a change, the chef is not papared to do the change, since he needs to cook the whole thing from scratch. they usually dont have the time during the rush hour, and then too tired after that. I just order rice and fried eggs, some mushrooms and vegetable tempura

Hope it helps! :-) Hope you find lots of delicious things to eat!!

It's so hard to avoid isn't it! I think the most realistic way to go is to avoid what you can, avoid soups etc unless you're somewhere that states they use kombu dashi and try not to think too hard about the rest. Obviously it depends on your reason for being vegetarian but realistically you'll never know all the ingredients when you're eating out.

Cakes with Faces Yes, soups and dipping sauces are best to be avoided. You are right! I'm very picky about making sure meat isn't in my diet, so I ask lots of questions at restaurants. Thank goodness for Italian and Indian restaurants especially!

Yes! Usually I avoid everything, but in Japan I try and I try not to think about it too much because it's just impossible otherwise. I always want to eat as much Japanese food as possible to try authentic local food, but that's the hardest one! (╥ω╥) There's always a time when I resort to having pizza out of desperation.

It's your holiday! 🍜🍜

Thanks! (I had a brace on my teeth when I was at school!!) :-)

I hope you can make it to Japan one day! :-)

@@cakeswithfaces awww, thanks! You’re so sweet! 🌸✨☘️🤍

Not the most exciting meal I've ever had!!

I love indian food! Although I'm sure what we have at restaurants in the UK is nothing like authentic indian cooking. I'd love to try it one day! :-)

BASED

You could always ask for the waiter's recommendation: Osusume!

I don't like mushrooms either! :-) There are veggie burgers at Mos Burger, a Japanese fast food chain with branches everywhere. The best thing is they have a choice of burgers with a soy patty - I love the teriyaki burger! Their allergen info's a bit confusing so some people say they contain chicken, but I think it's just because they're cooked in the same kitchen, and on certain burgers the toppings aren't vegetarian. They don't taste like they contain chicken so for me they're all good. They also have veggie burgers at Freshness Burger, another chain, and Ain Soph Ripple, a completely vegan restaurant in Shinjuku (a little pricier). You might find my list of restaurants with vegetarian options helpful :-) www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk/blog-2/vegetarian-restaurants-in-japan/

thank you so much for the info :)

Yes, good point! In Japan with the language barrier it can be difficult/impossible to find out what sort of oil's used, etc. So it depends on your personal preference whether you prefer to temporarily turn a blind eye for practicality's sake, or whether you prefer to avoid anything potentially problematic.

Sometimes bonito's only used in small quantities so doesn't always taste fishy. It's made by drying a fish so it looks like a block of wood and grating it into shavings. The shavings are added to boiling water, then sieved. So it's like the "tea" version of fish, if you like. Ponzu's great though, it's nice as a dipping sauce or splash some on cooked noodles for more flavour.

That'll be amazing! Did you see my Hokkaido videos - here's the playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PL-YXkErUfa4nqKVafL9bhvEyCb36NiPzP There are more options now than when I made this video several years ago, but most places still don't have any vegan options, so it's definitely still worth doing your research and going armed with a list of places where you can eat. Also Happy Cow is very useful (for me it's trickier as I travel together with meat eaters!). The smaller the place you're going to, the harder it's likely to be. In larger cities there's more likely to be a vegan restaurant. Dairy isn't used that widely in Japanese cooking (apart from desserts, bakery items, etc) so if something's vegetarian it'll probably be vegan too (unless there are eggs, which you'll be able to spot easily on a picture menu). Sushi places usually have at least a cucumber roll and maybe one or two options (but don't expect a big choice). And there are indian and italian restaurants that can be a back-up if you can't find vegan Japanese food. More branches of Coco Curry have vegan curry rice now too (and it's delicious!). Check what you can eat from convenience stores because they're everywhere - in Hokkaido they have Seico Mart. If you're going to Hakodate I'd recommend Masala Curris - they have a veggie curry option that's SO GOOD and a really cool place - it's at the end of this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Och57fy4A2c.html Hope that helps!

Thanks for the rec! I always walk loads on a trip too, about 10 miles a day - so yes you can max out on whatever food you want and make the most of it! :-)

I had a sesame seed ramen but I can't remember which one I had. I also had the soy meat sandwich. My preferences are different than other people, but if you don't like super salty stuff, it might not be the best option. I wish I had tried their curry, but I didn't see it on the menu! It might be because I'm not a ramen person in general. But from what I see, there were more options at the Ueno location. Also super important but It's actually Inside the train stations, So ask a train attendent and DON'T EXIT THE TRAIN STATION ONCE YOU GET TO TOKYO STATION. I have no idea bout ueno but I'm sure it's the same.

@@andracrombiexo12 Everyone has different tastes & preferences! :-) Yes, the Ueno one's the same - the restaurant's inside the ticket gates. I think the Ueno branch has more non-ramen options, and more varieties of the sesame ramen (I'm a big fan of sesames - I love eating them on toast, so that's why I liked it so much!).

There are vegan cafes if you look them up (my fav is T's TanTan - branches in Tokyo Station and Ueno Station). Apart from okonomiyaki (where the egg is in the batter), there aren't many "hidden" eggs in Japanese food so it should be straightforward which dishes to avoid eg tamago sushi, ramen with a boiled egg. When noodle dishes contain a boiled egg, it should be possible to ask for it without the egg. Hope you find lots of good things to eat!

Dashi is very difficult for vegetarians in Japan! While dashi can be made with konbu only, for most tourists we don't know enough Japanese to be able to tell if it's vegetarian or not, or if bonito dashi is used in a dish. The only way to be sure is to go to a purely vegetarian restaurant (and I travel with non-vegetarians so that's not always a favourable option). For myself, I try to maintain a level of tolerance, and try to avoid dashi, but accept that I might eat some items that contain dashi without realising it.

I think you'd be lucky to find that, especially with the language difference. If you stick to vegan/vegetarian restaurants that's the best way to make sure you're avoiding meat/fish products. Otherwise I've made a list of restaurants I've found in Tokyo that have vegetarian options - hope it helps! www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk/japan/vegetarian-restaurants-in-japan/

The regular Coco Curry sauce isn't vegetarian, but now at select branches they have a separate vegetarian menu. They use a different sauce that doesn't contain meat or meat stock like the regular one (it's really good, and there's a choice of toppings).

IvanPlayStation4LiFe In japan they're considered two different things

Yes!! So good. Can't wait to try their new vegan burger when it's safe to travel again.

+Yesuhey I've never gone self-catering so I haven't looked for it, but it looks like there's a shop called Natural House that stocks soy meat: tofusenshi.com/2014/09/21/guide-to-finding-vegan-meats-in-tokyo/ Hope that helps!

I found all food to be pretty reasonable prices. Tokyo has a reputation for being expensive, but I didn't think it was particularly expensive at all. (Although I suppose it depends where you go!) Even cheap food was good quality so you can't go wrong! Have a great time! :-)

Cakes with Faces thx you so much:-)

She saved your life?? Holy fuck. Are all veggiefags this retarded?

Nuts aren't that common in Japanese food so it shouldn't be a huge problem. Just watch out in bakery items and cakes - they're most likely to contain nuts. Also if you're allergic to sesames, sesame seeds and sesame oil are used fairly often.

My brother has a peanut and tree nut allergy, and when we went to Japan he wore allergy bracelets and carried cards that stated his food allergies. We really didn’t have much problems!

Everyone should be able to eat whatever they like and be happy 😁

Thanks! Avoiding meat will be no problem, there are plenty of fish dishes with no meat in most restaurants, because fish is traditionally more widespread than meat in Japan. In ramen restaurants, the soup is often pork or meat stock, but otherwise, clear soup stock will most likely be fish stock based. And there's no obligation to drink alcohol so you can avoid that easily - depends how strict you are but I think miso soup technically contains a tiny bit of alcohol! :-)

Thanks for the reply, I think I confirmed my good impression, you got a new subscriber ;)

Thank you! (≧◡≦)

I can't say about groceries (I live in the UK) but for restaurants, food's included in this video about how much I spent on a few days in Tokyo: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0kkHrTQsi44.html It's from a few years ago; I'll be making an updated version when I can start travelling to Japan again! Hope it helps!

I was worried about that before I first went, but it really isn't as difficult as you'd think. Lots of signs are in English, a lot more than I expected, especially on the metro, and in touristy areas most places have english menus. It's surprising how much you can communicate with gestures, especially if you learn how to say "yes", "no", "please", "thank you" and "this please!". If you're vegetarian and worried about being understood, you could use these printable cards: www.justhungry.com/japan-dining-out-cards :-)

Jordann Pastel I suspect a lot of places use the same fryer for meat and non-meat/veggie items. I guess it depends how strict you are, whether you want to try and avoid that or not. Realistically, in Japan it's hard enough for vegetarians already so personally I haven't researched it.

There's a map view on Happy Cow. And here's my list of restaurants with vegetarian options in Tokyo - I'll be updating it when I'm back from Japan! www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk/blog-2/vegetarian-restaurants-in-japan/

@@cakeswithfaces This list helpes me a lot for my Tokyo trip this year in fall. Thanks ♥

@@cLam1990 Hope you find lots of delicious things to eat!! :-)

I only know basic Japanese really - I'm not very good! I've been learning on and off for a few years. It's enough to read a some signs and talk to people, but their answers are often too fast to understand! :-P

Yes! Buddhist monks eat shojin ryori, which is suitable for vegetarians - there restaurants where you can try it at some temples, especially in places like Kyoto.

What I do is use the phrases at: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x7PXiMf0OwM.htmlm56s Not everywhere will do this for you, and it certainly helps if you can learn a little Japanese to help you get by. What I'd recommend have vegetarian options; it takes so much of the stress out of finding somewhere for dinner and ordering! I have a list of restaurants with meat and veggie options; if you'd like a copy, message me on Facebook! facebook.com/cakeswithfaces or send me an email!

Yes, it's so useful!!

Yes she probably wouldn't be happy about that!!! It's difficult but not impossible, especially if you do a bit of planning! :-)

Cakes with Faces I've learnt almost all of the hiragana and working my way through katakana. I'm dreading Kanji..

You'll definitely be able to pick out words and understand a few signs/food labels if you can read hiragana and katakana. I'm learning kanji at the moment, it's definitely confusing for a beginner!

I'd say it's probably easier/safer to avoid meat when you're in Japan too then. Islam isn't very common in Japan so people probably won't be familiar with what types of meat you can eat. To be honest not everyone completely understands "vegetarian"! I've definitely heard of some Halal ramen restaurants in Tokyo though - if you search for "Halal ramen Tokyo" or "Halal restaurant Tokyo" you'll find them :-)

I feel ya :(

so what are your spots

Here's my list of restaurants in Tokyo with vegetarian options - most of them serve meat too so they're good if you're travelling with non-vegetarian/Muslim friends: www.cakeswithfaces.co.uk/blog-2/vegetarian-restaurants-in-japan/

Lol there is no such thing as half muslim.

Sorry!! There are subtitles if that helps :-) If you have any questions, just ask. :-)

Haha I have tried natto once & was so nervous about it I had only the tiniest bit with rice!! :-)

It can be a pain sometimes! But it's getting easier compared to how it used to be. With some preparation it's do-able and you can still find lots of delicious things to eat!