Updated March 2023, as Japan re-opens to foreign travellers after three years of border closures.
I started this blog a decade ago as a "sister-blog" to my main blog about vegan life in Taiwan. At that time, I was living in Yokohama (near Tokyo), and I wanted to provide some basic starting information for vegans travelling to or living in Japan.
A lot has happened since then. Firstly, Japan has become much more vegan-friendly. While even then Tokyo and Kyoto had some excellent vegan restaurants, and monthly vegan meetups at the Pink Cow, the vegan community would never have dreamed that vegan meals would be introduced to Japanese convenience stores.
Secondly, Facebook has all but killed the blogosphere. Most people, especially Millennials, now join Facebook groups to find information rather than using Google. And the platform is so much more interactive than blogs that few people 'follow' them anymore. Nevertheless, some vegans do still google information (it's certainly faster) so I try to keep an up-to-date summary of vegan restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto, and also vegan food options at convenience stores.
Yet despite the rise of Facebook groups and smartphone apps, I've always been saddened by how many vegans (and vegetarians) struggle in Japan, and how a disturbingly large number of would-be vegans 'compromise' because they find it too difficult, mostly by eating products made with fish at 'normal' restaurants in Japan. And it's not that they can't find food: Tokyo and Kyoto have some of the best vegan restaurants in Asia, and Happycow works brilliantly in Japan, thanks to the large numbers of foreign tourists and a strong vegan community which keep it up to date. It's more that vegans (and vegetarians) just don't know how to visit the tourist attractions and restaurants together, usually due to a lack of planning. Furthermore, most travellers (vegan and otherwise) struggle with the public transport system in Japan (as I did when I first arrived), and many just don't know the best places to visit. So, this inspired me to write the Japan Vegan Travel Guide, which I finished in early 2020 and have fully updated for the re-opening of Japan to foreign tourists in 2023. Like regular travel guides, it covers all aspects of travel, including tourist attractions, vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants, public transport, and everything I can think of a vegan traveller to Japan wanting or needing to know. I hope that with this guidebook vegans (and vegetarians) can visit all the best tourist attractions and their choice of vegan restaurants, with a minimum of planning and effort, and get the most out of their trip to Japan. I also hope that by connecting vegan businesses (which struggle at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic) with tourists who often just don't know where to find them or how to fit them into their itineraries, I can help to support the rise of veganism in Japan.
For more information about the Japan Vegan Travel Guide, please see this video.
I started this blog a decade ago as a "sister-blog" to my main blog about vegan life in Taiwan. At that time, I was living in Yokohama (near Tokyo), and I wanted to provide some basic starting information for vegans travelling to or living in Japan.
A lot has happened since then. Firstly, Japan has become much more vegan-friendly. While even then Tokyo and Kyoto had some excellent vegan restaurants, and monthly vegan meetups at the Pink Cow, the vegan community would never have dreamed that vegan meals would be introduced to Japanese convenience stores.
Secondly, Facebook has all but killed the blogosphere. Most people, especially Millennials, now join Facebook groups to find information rather than using Google. And the platform is so much more interactive than blogs that few people 'follow' them anymore. Nevertheless, some vegans do still google information (it's certainly faster) so I try to keep an up-to-date summary of vegan restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto, and also vegan food options at convenience stores.
Yet despite the rise of Facebook groups and smartphone apps, I've always been saddened by how many vegans (and vegetarians) struggle in Japan, and how a disturbingly large number of would-be vegans 'compromise' because they find it too difficult, mostly by eating products made with fish at 'normal' restaurants in Japan. And it's not that they can't find food: Tokyo and Kyoto have some of the best vegan restaurants in Asia, and Happycow works brilliantly in Japan, thanks to the large numbers of foreign tourists and a strong vegan community which keep it up to date. It's more that vegans (and vegetarians) just don't know how to visit the tourist attractions and restaurants together, usually due to a lack of planning. Furthermore, most travellers (vegan and otherwise) struggle with the public transport system in Japan (as I did when I first arrived), and many just don't know the best places to visit. So, this inspired me to write the Japan Vegan Travel Guide, which I finished in early 2020 and have fully updated for the re-opening of Japan to foreign tourists in 2023. Like regular travel guides, it covers all aspects of travel, including tourist attractions, vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants, public transport, and everything I can think of a vegan traveller to Japan wanting or needing to know. I hope that with this guidebook vegans (and vegetarians) can visit all the best tourist attractions and their choice of vegan restaurants, with a minimum of planning and effort, and get the most out of their trip to Japan. I also hope that by connecting vegan businesses (which struggle at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic) with tourists who often just don't know where to find them or how to fit them into their itineraries, I can help to support the rise of veganism in Japan.
For more information about the Japan Vegan Travel Guide, please see this video.
Nippon Irashaimashite (Welcome to Japan)!
I love your blog! I will go to some restaurant you recomended when I travel to Japan again :)
ReplyDeleteThis blog is amazingly helpful. I felt like pescatarianism was the only option while over there..
ReplyDelete