A Short and Sweet Guide to Being Vegetarian/Vegan, or Dealing with Dietary Restrictions in Japan
Inform your schools as quickly as you can about what you can`t eat. If you have broad ranging restrictions (ex: gluten-free, meat-free, etc.) then it will be helpful for your schools to know what you CAN eat.
Double check ingredients, especially in bread (lard), soy sauce (fish stock), soup (fish stock), and snacks (for example chips usually have some meat stock or extract). Google Translate is SUPER helpful for checking ingredients.
Online Resources:
1. VegJet on Facebook – join the community for a range of materials, helpful websites, advice, and restaurant recommendations.
Where to buy food online:
2. Foreign Food Buyer`s Club ( – 1000 yen annual fee for membership. Totally worth it. You can get food from the Kobe store within a week (even in the inaka of the inaka!) or if you`re willing to wait about a month you can get food shipped out of the states. You can prioritize your search to look at things from the Kobe store or LA warehouse.
3. Iherb (iherb.com) – Flat $4 shipping charge for up to 30lbs.
4. Alishan( – Ships from within Japan. Its products can also be found at various international food stores (such as LandMarche on the Shimatori).
5. ‘Natural Kitchen’ ( Requires a high level of Japanese or a friend willing to help you navigate it.
How to search for restaurants:
6. Happy Cow ( – Great for finding veg restaurants anywhere also has an app version.
7. - Also good for finding veg restaurants in Japan
Helpful tips:
8. – Has translations of Japanese food labels, as well as information on vegan festivals (almost always in Kansai), online stores and how to read food labels/order food
An incredibly helpful guide:
9. Veg Out: The Vegan and Vegetarian Survival Guide for Japan (a 2006 publication available for purchase from Hokkaido AJET) -