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Vegetarian food in Japan

rajs20

Hokage
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Hi,

I get the impression that almost everything in Japanese food is fish, or at least some kind of meat... Of course, it's similar in America, but so far I haven't had any problems- many American dishes don't have meat to begin with, but even in restaurants that mostly have meat, they are often willing to make vegetarian versions of their food. (For example, "gardenburgers")

So, does anyone know if it'd be possible to live comfortably in Japan as a vegetarian (especially say, eating out with coworkers at restaurants) or am I pretty much screwed?

Thanks

Raj
 
Thanks a lot! That's a really useful page.
 
Raj,
I currently live in Japan and prior to moving here, i was a MAJOR meat eater (i.e., chicken, pork, beef). After living here for several months, I found myself naturally eating a lot less meat. It's been about a year now, and without much real effort, I find my diet mainly consists of vegetables and seafood. In fact, I really don't even miss eating meat. The couple of times I did have it, I felt "heavy" (for lack of a better word right now) afterwards. Since then, I have since stuck to my veg./seafood diet.

Now the problem is, how will i adjust when I have to return to the States....
 
I echo the sentiments above. I used to be an omnivore although I leaned more towards a carnivorous diet than anything else. I've since been a staunch vegetarian for over a year now and have had little difficulty adjusting to Japanese cuisine to suit my appetite. There's no shortage of organic home-grown produce in my neighborhood and on the rare occasion I do eat out there's always vegetarian-friendly dishes available on the menu wherever I happen to dine. You should have little difficulty finding the same.
 
Awesome, thanks guys! It's a relief to know I won't starve to death there... Now the only thing holding me back is those crazy public toilets lol
 
Although it is very easy to eat vegetarian-friendly foods here because of the abundance of vegetables, I have to warn you to read the labels of anything if you are a very strict vegetarian. Most people would think that noodle dishes such as soba and udon are vegetarian, but the soup stock is always a fish base (unless for some reason they use a seaweed base, but since this has less flavor I'm sure you'll never see it). Also, with things like sauces about 99% of the foods have meat and fish extracts and proteins in them. The salad dressing I have in my fridge now has about 3 meats and 2 fish products in it -
My boyfriend is vegetarian, and so is my brother, so when they came to visit I tried my best to find foods for them to eat, but unless I was in my home cooking they always had to put up with a broth or sauce with fish in it. So just read the labels, and ask questions. And remember "vegetarian" to the Japanese means no meat - they don't understand that fish is included.
 
Wow, nice links Bezz. Good info, very informative.
 
It also depends on how strict you are. Many many dishes in japan use dashi broth as a base, which is flavored with dry fish flakes.
 
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