vegans in japan.

[tonyvortex]

a group of friends and i are planning on making out to japan next year,but none of us eat meat or eat dairy.i was wondering how hard it might be to find "vegan"friendly food there?over here in america it seems everything has whey or some other form of milk thrown in it ,im not sure if other countries are the same .thanks in advance.

[liquitt]

thats a very nice question! (i'm vegan, too)

a friend told me that it's relativly easy to eat vegan in japan. they donÄt do noodles with eggs, and the sauces are almost all vegan, except the curry, and chicken of course and so on

when they went to a resturant there was always a nice salad buffet.

for the fact that nearly every product has some milk in it, i have to second you. germany is the same...even if its a product that could be produced without it, it seems that they simply throw it in to...yeah to what? i dunno :D

the japanese don't do so afaik. he brought me some food grade packaging so i could had a look at the ingredients...and they don't seem to know things like lactose and whey or smething like that...

big blabla small intention: should be no problem :)

[ccovell]

Japanese generally eat more vegetables and fish than meat and dairy products, so I'm sure you can find vegan-friendly dishes. The only problem is that most servers at restaurants will probably be clueless as to what vegan/vegetarian is. Ask them what's in the dishes and they probably won't know.

[Yakumo]

Saladas, Tofu, noodles and all maner of vegies can be bought anywhere ! YOu shouldn't find it too hard.

Yakumo

[Tatsujin]

in my opinion it is almost impossible to get a full menu without eating any parts made out of or from animal stuff. e.g. so many soup stocks content some fish extracts eventually you may never recognize it. so even you don't really feel eating something made of animals, in the most of the cases it is something made out of animals.
so better buy some real vegetables in a store, then you know what you're eating^^

[nem]

Good luck trying to order vegan if you're not fluent in Japanese. The only place I know I got vegan food was a pita place that only served vegan :katamari:

[liquitt]

maybe you should think about getting this one:
http://www.rootsofcompassion.org/newshop/catalog/images/L007.jpg

it's a great help if they don't know what you're talking about

[Barc0de]

You're going to Japan and not having any Sushi? Considering it's my favourite type of food.. words cannot express my frustration:p

[nem]

maybe you should think about getting this one:
[image snip]
it's a great help if they don't know what you're talking about
Haha, never knew about that. Just ordered myself one. Thanks!

[Dr_Slump]

The greek text on the passport is useless, it says vegan with greek chars instead of the greek word φυτοφάγος -fitofagos-).

[Barc0de]

..or χορτοφάγος - πουτσοφάγος :p

[Taucias]

Japanese generally eat more vegetables and fish than meat and dairy products, so I'm sure you can find vegan-friendly dishes. The only problem is that most servers at restaurants will probably be clueless as to what vegan/vegetarian is. Ask them what's in the dishes and they probably won't know.

Wait a second... Vegans eat fish??

[GaijinPunch]

Tatsujin speaks the truth. You're fucked. I'm a psuedo vegetarian (I eat fish & dairy, but no chicken, pork, cow, or any of that shit). I don't even like fish that much to be honest.

Anyways, explaining to a Japanese "no meat" can sometimes be a trick. I went to a place to order a Spaghetti Carbonara, and asked for it with "no meat". It came with bacon bits all over it. I asked the dude WTF, and he said, "no there's no meat on it, just bacon". O_O

Here are a few places that you can find something on the menu, and are English friendly.

Pita the Great - this is a small pita sandwhich shop in Akasaka, near Akasaka Twin Tower (has a big ATT on it). He used to serve a Tuna sandwhich, but doesn't anymore. It's all vegetarian. 500 yen per sandwhich. I love this place. Definitely one of the things I miss most. Other than the humus pita, it's almost all fried though.

Sonoma, in Shibuya, just up Dogenzaka on the right. (I'm sure they have a website). Not a vegan restaurant, but they do have vegetarian alternatives on their menu. This is a sit-down restaurant. Will cost you probably 1500 yen per person w/o drinks. They have a bar upstairs, and some good parties on the weekend as well.

Fujimama in Harajuku. The head chef of this restaurant helped Sonoma w/ their menu, and I'm proud to say is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin (same as me). Again, not a vegan restaurant, but has vegan alternatives.

All are gaijin-run with bilingual staff, so English isn't a problem.

HTH


Ask them what's in the dishes and they probably won't know.

You need to learn with 100% accuracy how to say "is there meat in it?" in Japanese. And don't believe the menu. I bought a Vegetable Au Gratin once. Read the description and everyting. Aaah, this looks good. Right in the middle was a slab of ground beef.

EDIT:
One last thing -- there are many Indian run curry places. They usually will have a Vegetarian Curry out. If it's run by Japanese people, then it's Japanese style curry, so will taste like shit anyway. Look for Indians, and ask them. They'll probably be able to speak some English.

[la-li-lu-le-lo]

I have a random question about vegans. Why don't they eat/drink things that have milk in them? I've been curious about that for a while. Is it because of the inhumane things they do to cows on farms? That would make sense.

[GaijinPunch]

Why don't they eat/drink things that have milk in them?

Why don't straight men suck cock? Some don't do it b/c they don't like it. Others b/c of religious conviction. It's a question with many answers, such as yours.

[abionic]

vegans dont consume any animal products, including milk or (sometimes) honey.. the philosophical reasons vary (and sometimes there arent any other than perceived health benefits), but that's the general core tenet of veganism.

as for vegan food in japan, the thing to ask for is 'strict vegetarian' as apparently its a buddhist thing and a lot of places have a decent idea what it means.. i forgot the actual phrase in nihongo but i'll find out.

my travellin buddy while i was there last month, is vegan, and he got by ok tho it did require some fluency. short of that, all the convenience stores have inari and vegetable maki and the like that are vegan, and he largely subsisted on those without big problems. i also suggest izakaya-style restaurants, as they tend to have a lot of small veggie dishes with the fish dashi (and don't be fooled, there's fish dashi in _everything_) on the side.

good luck!

[Tatsujin]

i thought, that inari zushi is done with a fish-dashi (bonito)?!

[abionic]

i thought, that inari zushi is done with a fish-dashi (bonito)?!


apparently not the ones you can get from AM/PM or FAMILYMART

[Dr_Slump]

Going a bit offtopic, but if you just don't eat mammals what are you called? Cause that's what I do.

[Unregistered]

if i understand your quesion well the answer could be a vegetarian?

[Barc0de]

I always wondered how vegeterians cope with their daily needs in protein (the useful type, not that found in soya etc) ?

[ccovell]

http://img.snlarc.jt.org/arc/epskit/81-10-03-2.jpg
I'm getting my protein, are you?


(just a joke!)

[Barc0de]

Eating raw eggs all the time is comperable to wearing that pink outfit :p I m sick of it:p

(Serious)

[SFChead]

I always wondered how vegeterians cope with their daily needs in protein (the useful type, not that found in soya etc) ?
I don't know what you mean by "the useful type", because soy beans certainly contain useful proteins that we need to survive. The main thing to worry about is getting all of the right proteins in a given day. Take a look at this about.com quote:

As long as you eat a variety of plant foods, such as brown rice, corn, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and wheat within each 24 hour period, your protein needs should easily be met.

[Barc0de]

Soy doesn't contain any useful muscle building protein, in the same sense that Egg-whites or Whey offer. There are many plants that are high in protein, but our body only uses specific amino-acids in order to build muscles. As such, I can't imagine a vegeterian body-builder or professional athlete. Soy just isn't efficient, you literally do away with most of it in the John.

[Dr_Slump]

Soy protein is not intended for male athletes. Soy protein will keep you alive and prevent muscle breakdown, but will not let you build muscle.

[liquitt]

the only thing you "could" worry about as a vegan is Vitamin B12

[tonyvortex]

thanks everyone who mentioned something about the topic.i was just hoping that it could be possible.for any of you that are curious about vegans,you should spend a few minutes at :http://www.vegan.org/about_veganism/index.html

i havent eaten meat in about 17 years now,i just decided to go vegan about 2 years ago.

[norefuge]

I'm a vegetarian, not a vegan, in that I still wear leather and so on. I do not consume any animal products in my diet.

That said, I get my vitamin B12 from Red Bull. 80% in 1 can baby.

[liquitt]

i prefer soy milk and multi-vitamine juice :D

but red bull is fine, too :)

[vegi-saurus]

This is great info.

I went to Osaka in my teens and ate a 'vegetarian' meal at a nice restaurant...only to find they used fish extract in the soup. Got quite the upset stomach that night.

I was stuck in Osaka for a night last year and i had such a hard time scrummaging for vegan food. I walked to 7-11 close by only to find nothing (at least nothing that i could understand). Went to the hotel's restaurant and ordered the crappiest plate of fried rice for 2000 yen.

I hope the next time i end up in Japan, it'll be better.


I always wondered how vegeterians cope with their daily needs in protein (the useful type, not that found in soya etc) ?
Do you even realize that the majority of animals you eat get their proteins from plants? If a cow can be massively huge just by eating grass, i'm pretty sure us human vegans/vegetarians will do more than just fine with our soy goods.


As such, I can't imagine a vegeterian body-builder or professional athlete.
You'd be surprised. And besides, most pro athletes do not gorge on a lot meat in order to be in competitive shape.

[Tachikoma]

You don't see many people eating 10% of their body weight in just grass every day... well you might, but they probably wouldn't last long!

Ah I miss the days of your pro-vegan avatars and my photoshopping them into something else...

[liquitt]

Ah I miss the days of your pro-vegan avatars and my photoshopping them into something else...

i definetly missed something here :lol:

[Cactusjack1999]

My aunt is a vegetarian. She will eat meat on occasion when it is socially impossible to not do so (she has eaten bologna before because she attented a meeting at a restaruant and someone had ordered for her without knowing she didn't eat meat)

She also always orders the Pasta with Meat Sauce at Olive Garden as well, of course she just scrapes the meat off of the top of it (which is usualyl what they just do, pasta and put the sauce on top) and just enjoys it.

As for the protein thing, I would imagine Peanut butter would be acceptable unless you were of course alergic.

[Tachikoma]

i definetly missed something here :lol:

He used to have these cute little animated avatars of people hugging cows and eating grass, and I would edit them so the guy was sick after eating the grass, then would slaughter the cow for a BBQ, you had to be there at the time... it was better than I explained it!

[vegi-saurus]

He used to have these cute little animated avatars of people hugging cows and eating grass, and I would edit them so the guy was sick after eating the grass, then would slaughter the cow for a BBQ, you had to be there at the time... it was better than I explained it!
Yeah, i remember that one.