I like to visit new countries. I also need to eat in order to survive. As a vegetarian, some countries make that easier than others. I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was go Interrailing around Europe while maintaining a Vegan / Vegetarian diet. My next adventure was Japan.

People told me that it was impossible to be veggie in Japan. That was nonsense. I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it was possible with a little bit of planning.

First, the good news! I found loads of fully veggie restaurants in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Hiroshima. If you and your travelling companions are happy to be veggie all the time, you’ll be fine.

All the larger convenience stores had some veggie options. Usually cut vegetables, or potato crisps, or egg-salad sandwiches. Some of them had tofu sushi and the like.

You aren’t going to be able to wander into any random restaurant and get a veggie feast (although you’ll probably find edamame everywhere!) but you can find omni-places which do decent veggie-friendly fare. Even street-food markets usually had at least one suitable offering. I had flame-grilled bamboo, tornado potatoes, local cakes, and a few other tasty treats as we strolled along. Google Translate goes a long way if you want to make certain.

Now the bad news. How much plausible deniability do you want in your life? Almost nothing in supermarkets or restaurants has the ⓥ symbol or similar on it. In Europe you’ll find it everywhere, here you’ll have to point your phone at the menu and trust the AI to translate correctly.

Bonito (fish-flakes) is everywhere. It is added as flavouring much like the West adds salt and sugar. It often goes unlabelled. Even at a restaurant specialising in tofu, I was served a little dish of bonito - thankfully on the side. It’s up to you how much you care about this. I took the pragmatic decision that if there weren’t great big lumps of flesh in my food then I was going to let it slide.

I ordered the special Vegan Ramen in one place. It was made with a different soup base to the meaty one (as confirmed by my omniwife) but it did also have a boiled egg in it!

As I’ve mentioned before, there are no Vegan Morality Police. You can be as flexible as you like with your diet and you won’t be sent to hell. Which is lucky, because you might need a fair bit of flexibility in Japan!

There are various campaigns in Japan to raise awareness of veggie issues - including better labelling of food. But, for now, you may have to go with the flow.

A few apps make things easier:

• Google Translate is good - but not flawless.
• Payke is a shopping app with a built in barcode scanner. Zap something in a shop and it will probably tell you the ingredients in English. The app - like many in Japan - isn’t attuned to Western ideas of usability, but it mostly works.
• HappyCow is essential. It lists veggie restaurants and omni restaurants with a decent selection of suitable food.
• Google Maps was adequate - but check the results carefully.
• Tabelog lists every restaurant in Japan and has lots of reviews from locals - I couldn’t find an easy way to show only veggie-friendly places though.

There are no shortage of decent veggie places. Some are Izakaya bars with touch-screen menus mostly translated into English. Others are fine-dining with a set multi-course tasting menu. You’ll find veggie versions of all the classic Japanese dishes - or burger & chips if that’s what you want.

And here’s some tips that I picked up along the way:

• There are lots of Italian restaurants in Japan. You can usually find a few veggie dishes in those.
• Similarly, Indian restaurants always have an aloo-gobi or similar if you fancy a curry.
• Hotel breakfasts are usually well-labelled. All the ones I went to explicitly said if food had meat or fish in it. If all else fails, a bowl of rice and pickles will fill you up!
• The chain "Mos Burger" has a couple of plant-based "green" burgers on its menus. They were pretty good!
• Lots of the veg-only places we went to were full of tourists. You may not get the "authentic local" experience if you stick to just those sorts of restaurants.
• Have a few beers or a couple of glasses of Sake if you think you accidentally ate something you’d rather not have.

Here are a few photos and reviews of some of the places I enjoyed - you can read more on my HappyCow profile.

A Vegan Walks Into A Steak Restaurant...

One of the best vegan meals I had in Japan was at - of all places - a Halal Kobe Beef restaurant! They specialise in eye-wateringly expensive cuts of meat. But they also had a vegan set menu which was exquisite.

A perfect vegan miso, with a sesame salad, followed by tofu and vegetables grilled in front of me. A half-dozen mock-meat gyoza with various dipping sauces. Then garlic rice which blew my nose away.

Located in the very touristy Dotonbori district, it was quiet at lunch but I recommending booking in advance. A spectacular meal with a very friendly chef.

Ramen

There is a chain of ramen restaurants called Ramen Kiou. Like lots of fast-ish food places in Japan, you order using a touch-screen at the table. This chain has a helpful screen describing their vegan policy:

There were several veggie options and, as it is an open kitchen, you can watch the chefs work.

What’s better than one vegan gyoza?

Eleven vegan gyoza!

The aptly-named Vegan Gyoza restaurant in Tokyo served us up a selection of their steamed bundles of happiness. Each was a distinct flavour and each was a unique colour. Splendid!

So Good We Went There Twice

I don’t usually revisit restaurants while on holiday - but Nezu Noya was so good we made an exception!

Hidden inside a health-food store, it’s a small restaurant so you may need to wait if you haven’t booked.

The chopstick holders were delightful seashells. I assume even the most ardent vegan wouldn’t consider that problematic 😄

Too Much Tofu

We wandered around the bamboo forests north of Kyoto and were suddenly overtaken by an all-consuming need to eat tofu. We found ourselves at Yudofu Sagano - they are a restaurant set in beautiful gardens, with several cosy rooms inside. We sat on the floor (!) while we were served a ten-course tofu lunch.

Here’s a small selection of what we had.

There was a simmering pot of tofu in the centre, and then a plethora of of other styles. In all honesty, it was too much - but in an excellent way! Each dish was explained to us, which allowed me to avoid the fish-flakes (served on the side).

Beer and Grub

An Izakaya is a sort of bar which which does food. Again, you tap on an onscreen menu or scan a QR code to order. Then food and drink appears at your table.

We found a Vegan Izakaya in Kyoto which had space for us - which was lucky as it was pretty full.

They had a KFC-style coating on their mushrooms which was excellent - and a decent range of beer.

Naramachi Vegan Nabi ならまちヴィーガン菜美

No trip to Japan is complete without visiting Nara, and no visit to Nara is complete without visiting Vegan Nabi!

This is a cat themed restaurant. There are no cats wandering around. Gorgeously decorated with lots of cat-based artwork and jewellery to buy. The food is outstanding. Fresh and obviously made with love.

The green blob by the soy sauce is not wasabi - it is super strength yuzu pickle.

And more...

If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you can find plenty of options in major cities. We had no trouble eating at veggie-friendly restaurants in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, and Hiroshima. You may need to be a little flexible about what you consider veggie - but should be able to enjoy a delicious range of food.