Peanut allergy

Hi!

So... I'm going to Japan, but I have a slight little worry... You see, I'm allergic to peanuts! To the degree that my eyes and nose itch pretty badly if I'm in the same room as an open bag of peanuts... and if I eat it, if I'm lucky, I "only" have to take my adrenaline-shot and then rest for 4-5 hours before going on with my life...

So here's my question:
How common are peanuts in japanese food, and what dishes do you guys think I should avoid? Also... what exacly IS the word for peanut in japanese?!

Very grateful for answers!

Peanuts and peanuts oil are not commonly used in traditional Japanese dishes.
But sometimes they are found in snacks and sweets - mixed with small rice crackers, in chocolates, just for example.
I read a few webpages about peanuts allergy in Japan, many of them warn about currey rice, snack food, salad, sandwiches as "they sometimes use peanuts products to add flavour". And there are various kind of breads with peanuts filling (paste, cream, etc.)

Peanuts is called ﾆ痴ﾂーﾆ段ﾆ鍛ﾆ団 (piinattsu) or ﾆ痴ﾂーﾆ段ﾆ団 (piinatsu) in Japanese.
Most food should be OK but since you are strongly allergic, you might want to make sure, you can ask at restaurants or shops.

ﾅｽ窶樞?堙哉痴ﾂーﾆ段ﾆ団窶堙俄?ｹﾂｭ窶忸窶堙姑但ﾆ椎槌停?ｹﾆ樽ﾂー窶堙ｰﾅｽﾂ昶?堙≫?堙??堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷﾂ。
窶堋ｱ窶堙個食窶堙冷?｢ﾂｨ窶堙俄?堙哉痴ﾂーﾆ段ﾆ鍛ﾆ団窶堙｢ﾆ痴ﾂーﾆ段ﾆ鍛ﾆ団ﾆ棚ﾆ辰ﾆ停?ｹ窶堋ｪﾅｽg窶堙ｭ窶堙ｪ窶堙??堋｢窶堙懌?堋ｷ窶堋ｩﾂ？

窶堙坂?堋｢ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ 窶堋｢窶堋｢窶堋ｦﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ

watashi wa piinatsu ni kyoudo no arerugii wo motteimasu.
kono tabemono niwa piinatsu ya piinatsu oiru ga tsukawareteimasuka?
(I'm severely allergic against peanuts.
Are any peanuts or peanuts oil used in this food?)

You can print it out and show it to the people are you asking.
The last line is 窶堙坂?堋｢ (hai/yes) and 窶堋｢窶堋｢窶堋ｦ (iie/no), so that people can indicate with their finger which is their answer.

There must be a webpage to help people with allergy travelling abroad, but I cannot remember which site it was.
I read about it at japan-guide.com.
japan-guide.com forum - Questions -
If you use "search questions" function with "allergy, allergic" as the keywords, various posts are shown related to allergy.

I hope other members will post additional information.
And enjoy your trip! I hope you'll have a great time.

Thank you, that will probably help alot! Thank god I do know some japanese already though... like hiragana and katakana too,

I think undrentide has given you solid advice, but please do be careful for peanut being used in processed foods and snacks... ☝

Learn to check out the list of ingredients on packages. Look out for the word ﾆ痴ﾂーﾆ段ﾆ鍛ﾆ団 which she had pointed out. Also, look out for 窶版ｽ窶ｰﾃ板青ｶ (rakkasei), which also means peanuts. Both words are used here in Japan.

I am also allergic to peanuts. I newer had any problems in Japan. However, snacks can be a problem. I love rice snacks "senbei", but sometimes peanuts are mixed together with them. South east asian food, specially indonesian is risky, but the japanese cuisine is generally safe.