A Vegan Guide for Navigating Japan

How to avoid hidden fish stock and find the absolute best food in Japan

We’re back in Japan, hosting two more groups on our all-inclusive vegan trips. I’ve already shared a number of articles related to Japan—some free, some for paid subscribers (thank you!)—that you might want to explore:

• Sushi Doesn’t Mean Fish: The Plant-Based Roots of Japanese Cuisine

• When Japan (Mostly) Stopped Eating Meat

• Dining with Geisha

• Ramen: A Vegan Guide to Japan’s Iconic Noodle Dish

• Tempura: The Plant-Based Origins of Japan’s Favorite Fried Dish

• Steeped in Tea

If you’ve been thinking about a trip to Japan (and who isn’t these days?), I wanted to share with you some tips and tricks for navigating Japan as a vegan (or vegetarian). In today’s article, we’ll cover:

• Why modifications aren’t a typical ask in a Japanese restaurant

• How to navigate the “invisible” fish stock found in almost everything

• The best apps and resources for finding vetted vegan spots

• What to order at sushi counters, izakayas, noodle shops, and convenience stores

• My personal, tried-and-true recommendations across Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka

Let’s get started!

The Vegan Challenge in Japan

For decades, I have been reframing what it means to live (and eat) as a joyful vegan in a non-vegan world. One of the things I have talked about for years is the fact that “vegan” is not a separate food group. We are talking about fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, grains, legumes, herbs, and spices.

There aren’t “regular” bananas and “vegan” bananas. There are just bananas, and you know they’re suitable for vegans, because they’re a fruit.

So, when people ask me how I travel or eat out as a vegan, my answer is simple: I don’t consume a handful of things—animal-based flesh, fluids, or ferments—but I do eat a massive variety of others; hundreds, in fact. Those ‘other’ things are easy to find wherever we go. They’re called plants.

I firmly stand by the fact that the foundation of most global cuisines is plant-based. Animal meat did not become an everyday staple in the human diet until the last century.

That goes for Japan, as well, as illustrated in Sushi Doesn’t Mean Fish: The Plant-Based Roots of Japanese Cuisine. BUT, and this is a big BUT, even with those deep roots, there are specific cultural hurdles you have to navigate when you visit Japan as a traveling vegan.

The Cultural Reality of the Japanese Kitchen

To navigate Japan successfully, you have to understand a few fundamental cultural aspects of how they approach food. Unlike in the West, where “having it your way” is the norm, Japan operates on a different set of rules:

1. The Menu is Not a Suggestion: Generally speaking, Japanese restaurants do not offer modifications. The concept of “substituting” or “removing” ingredients is — similar to Italy — not part of the dining culture. What you see on the menu is exactly what will be served, so arriving with the expectation that a chef can "veganize" a standard dish on the fly isn’t how Japan operates.