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I find this very hard to believe. Japan, and Asia in general, has plenty of vegetarian food. Any guide can point you to restaurant with suitable dishes. Potato

I find this very hard to believe. Japan, and Asia in general, has plenty of vegetarian food. Any guide can point you to restaurant with suitable dishes. Potato chips would be way down in my list, unless I had a very tight budget... but then I wouldn't be in Japan.

wahnfrieden 3y ago
Nepalese restaurants are also all over the country and reliable veg friendly options. They sometimes serve only Indian food but the menus are made to Japanese taste so it's fun to try as something new. They also often stick to the Japanese tradition of offering free rice refills by having free naan refills instead, at least until recent inflation.
johnwalkr 3y ago
With a guidebook/website you can easily find some restaurants with vegetarian options in cities, or vegan restaurants (although they tend to also serve ultra-healthy low calorie dishes). But in towns you may be out of luck and it can be super frustrating trying to explain that you don't eat fish or dashi which normally has fish in it especially if you don't speak the language well. It's common that a restaurant will not make you anything. Certain areas pretty much only have ryokans as accommodations, you're expected to eat there and they won't always accommodate you. In the recent few years, "plant-based" options are popular in conbinis and chain restaurants. But half the time they are seasoned with meat extracts. I would say "plenty of options" is stretching it, you really have to put effort in once you get out of a city. I get GP's comment and I've known other people that, if a known vegetarian Japanese option isn't available, stick to pizza, Indian restaurants and a few reliable things from conbinis so they can travel without it being a hassle.
felipeerias 3y ago
Japanese cuisine doesn’t use large amounts of meat but most dishes are prepared with some ingredients of animal origin. Fish stocks are ubiquitous, for example. I can only imagine that a strict vegan would have a hard time finding suitable food. On the other hand, a typical omnivore Westerner will usually eat far less meat than usual while in Japan.

wahnfrieden 3y ago

Nepalese restaurants are also all over the country and reliable veg friendly options. They sometimes serve only Indian food but the menus are made to Japanese taste so it's fun to try as something new. They also often stick to the Japanese tradition of offering free rice refills by having free naan refills instead, at least until recent inflation.

johnwalkr 3y ago

With a guidebook/website you can easily find some restaurants with vegetarian options in cities, or vegan restaurants (although they tend to also serve ultra-healthy low calorie dishes). But in towns you may be out of luck and it can be super frustrating trying to explain that you don't eat fish or dashi which normally has fish in it especially if you don't speak the language well. It's common that a restaurant will not make you anything. Certain areas pretty much only have ryokans as accommodations, you're expected to eat there and they won't always accommodate you. In the recent few years, "plant-based" options are popular in conbinis and chain restaurants. But half the time they are seasoned with meat extracts. I would say "plenty of options" is stretching it, you really have to put effort in once you get out of a city. I get GP's comment and I've known other people that, if a known vegetarian Japanese option isn't available, stick to pizza, Indian restaurants and a few reliable things from conbinis so they can travel without it being a hassle.

felipeerias 3y ago

Japanese cuisine doesn’t use large amounts of meat but most dishes are prepared with some ingredients of animal origin. Fish stocks are ubiquitous, for example. I can only imagine that a strict vegan would have a hard time finding suitable food. On the other hand, a typical omnivore Westerner will usually eat far less meat than usual while in Japan.