How is it to be vegetarian in Japan? Is it difficult?

Doing some research I found out that it is not easy to be a vegetarian in Japan. Although Japan has a low cancer rate and a long life expectancy, it is not because they stop eating meat. In reality, the Japanese diet consists of a lot of meat everywhere, making life difficult for vegetarians or vegans.

Although you can find several dishes that apparently do not contain meat, most of them have sauce and broth with fish oil and meat, sometimes even the salad has fish flakes. Being a vegetarian in Japan is complicated, mainly because it is not customary in Japan to alter or remove any ingredient from a particular dish. Asking the cook not to add a certain item to the dish is considered rude, and therefore some refuse to do it.

What is a vegetarian called in Japan?

Vegetarian in Japanese is called bejitarian (ベジタリアン), a word borrowed from English. The native concept in Japanese is saishokushugisha (菜食主義者), but they can still eat fish.

The closest thing to strict vegetarianism that we know in the West is shoujin ryouri (精進料理) or devotional cuisine, which comes from the practice of Buddhist monks with principles of non-violence. Here they avoid eating even plants where it is necessary to kill the stem, such as potatoes and carrots.

Japan consumes a lot of meat, even in dishes that shouldn’t have meat, they add it. Research states that only 0.08% of Japanese people are ideological vegetarians.

Suggestions for vegetarians in Japan

It can be difficult, but it is not impossible to find vegetarian restaurants, especially in cities like Tokyo. Just do a quick search on Google Maps and find the desired location. If it is hard to find a vegetarian restaurant, we recommend a list of dishes that do not contain meat (I hope). Unfortunately, buying vegetables and fruits at the market can be a bit expensive, but nothing exorbitant. Feel free to access some articles about the foods mentioned below by clicking on them:

• Gohan – ご飯 – White rice;
• Tempura – 天ぷら – Many vegetarian options;
• Kappa maki – cucumber sushi;
• Tsukemono – 漬物 – Pickled vegetables;
• Tofu – 豆腐 – Looks like cheese made from soy;
• Zaru soba – Cold noodles, just don’t dip them in the broths;
• Onigiri – Rice ball, be careful that some are stuffed;
• Bakeries – Great place to find meatless treats;
• Fast Food – The fries at McDonald’s are perfect;

In addition, you can find processed products for vegetarians like meat, burgers, fillets, and even soy sausages. Being a vegetarian in Japan may seem complicated, but despite the difficulties people talk about in finding options, Japan is rich in choice and variety of foods. Do you know or have any tips? Leave them in the comments. To finish, I will leave a video with an interview that a friend did with a vegetarian living in Japan.

Embedded video (YouTube)