Tourism Tokyo restaurants trying to lure vegetarian tourists

[thomas]

An increasing number of Tokyo restaurants is getting creative to attract a clientele neglected until recently: vegetarian tourists. While millions of visitors have happily savoured Japan's fish- and meat-heavy cuisine, options for vegetarians and vegans are harder to find. Tokyo's government has held seminars for restaurateurs and dispatched experts to help eateries develop new menu items, introducing alternatives to staple ingredients such as dried fish flakes or pork-bone broth.

Photo credit: AFP-JIJI​

Ninna Fujimoto from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government says the city wants to help accommodate tourists by widening the diversity of food options, including vegetarian cuisine. The city publishes a specialist restaurant guide, offers subsidies to get businesses certified veggie-friendly and has two vegetarian and vegan chefs among its "tourism ambassadors." One is Katsumi Kusumoto of Saido, a restaurant that serves vegan versions of typical dishes, such as grilled eel made from tofu and vegetables. "In Tokyo, there are many Michelin-starred restaurants, the most in the world," Kusumoto says. "But compared to other cities, Tokyo has extremely few vegan and vegetarian restaurants."

Data on vegetarians and vegans in Japan is sparse, with small-scale surveys finding just a tiny percentage of the population following such diets.


Some vegetarians have a pretty pragmatic approach.

Customer Laura Schwarzl from Austria paused her vegetarianism to eat meat and fish during her trip to Japan, saying the food is "exceptional." The 22-year-old also planned to visit Indonesia and other destinations, where she expected to find more choices. "As soon as I leave Japan, I'll be vegetarian again," she says.

To lure vegetarian tourists, Tokyo restaurants get creative with classic dishes

Cuisine is a main draw for tourists in Japan, but what's a vegan to do in the famously fish- and meat-heavy restaurants of the capital?

www.japantimes.co.jp

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