Vegetarian, Vegan, Halal, Kosher, Jain, Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free: Dietary requirements and patterns make up a world of their own be they for personal, health or religious reasons. But the question arises…how easy is it to continue the same lifestyle and fulfil dietary needs with as little compromise as possible after a move to Japan? Her Campus spoke to some Waseda students and professionals to find out.
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Our first respondent was Nicole, a 21-year-old exchange student who lived in Tokyo, Japan.
Could you tell us a little about yourself and your dietary needs/restrictions?
I’m a Zoology and Conservation student from the UK and I follow a plant-based diet with an emphasis on health foods.
When you came to Japan, how difficult/easy was it to fulfil your dietary needs or find food according to your restrictions?
In the UK I followed a high carb vegan lifestyle where my meals were made up of plenty of fruit and vegetables and limited processed foods. When I came to Japan that was difficult because I found the fruit to be too expensive for a student. I had to resort to using rice as my main source of energy.
Are you able to freely find foods that match your requirements when you go out to dine at Japanese restaurants?
When dining out or eating on the go, it was difficult to find vegetarian options, never mind vegan ones. Many of the seemingly veggie option turned out to have dashi (fish stock) or bonito inside. This made it quite awkward when dining out with friends. It also proved difficult to explain to host families and I felt ashamed of my dietary choices.
However I did make friends with a couple of girls who also appreciated vegetarian and vegan foods and we had many fun adventures to vegan restaurants. I had some amazing vegan ramen and the difficulties we all first felt brought us closer together and helped us appreciate the food even more.
How does your educational institute or workplace support your dietary needs? What is the level of knowledge and understanding regarding your dietary conditions in Japan as compared to your home country?
While I was in Tokyo I attended Waseda University. The university had a large cafeteria, several convenient stores, vending machines and coop stores. To save money and make sure I was getting enough nutrition, I usually took my own lunch. However on the off chance I had to buy something that was there, I was usually able to buy soup, salad or a sandwich.
In the UK it’s quite common for people to be vegetarian and every year veganism is growing. Restaurants and cafes must have a vegetarian option, but sometimes the older generation are still confused by the movement. Whilst in Japan, I had a hard time explaining what vegetarianism is. Many of the Japanese people I met would still ask if I could eat chicken and fish. Several times when I was eating with host families I was asked if I could just remove the meat.
Are you able to fulfil your dietary needs or restrictions at the Japanese Konbini or Supermarket?
Konbini onigiri normally came in only 3 flavours, with one being the sour and loved/hated umeboshi. Again, a lot of the instant meals contain dashi and so a lot of the time if I was having lunch on the go it will be a bag salad or plain rice balls. However, at most supermarkets I was able to buy a hot baked sweet potato and that became my favourite food there.
In case you are seriously inconvenienced in terms of finding food to match your needs and requirements in Japan, how do you manage?
I made a lot of my own meals and bento’s, I would also carry around bananas and snacks in case there wasn’t any other options.
Do you have any advice for newcomers to Japan who may follow the same diet routines or have food needs similar to yours?
Make sure you know how to cook because a lot of the time you need to fend for yourself. Also try and find light minded people so you can cook together or find restaurants together.
Can you recommend any restaurants that have supported your needs or cater to your diet style? Are there any online communities as well?
T’s Tantan for the best vegan ramen and gyoza, all Ain Soph branches (vegan chicken burger is to die for, as is the tiramisu), Café the 6BT for vegan ramen and cute desserts.
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Our second respondent was Marina, a 20-year-old Student and News Assistant in Tokyo, Japan.
Could you tell us a little about yourself and your dietary needs/restrictions?
I am a sophomore at Waseda University. I am from Japan but lived in the United States during high school. As for my dietary needs/restrictions, I follow a gluten-free diet. Although I am not as sensitive to gluten as those who have celiac disease, I am intolerant to it. In addition, I generally avoid meat, so that also restricts my diet as well.
When you came to Japan, how difficult/easy was it to fulfill your dietary needs or find food according to your restrictions?
It was difficult to fulfill my dietary needs when I came to Japan. I found out that I was gluten intolerant during a medical check in Japan, after I had lived in the United States without any dietary problems. I had been used to eating products that contained gluten, so the new restriction drove me crazy. However, I was determined to stick to a healthy diet, and now it is not as hard as it used to be.
Are you able to freely find foods that match your requirements when you go out to dine at Japanese restaurants?
Yes, if I choose to eat salads or appetizers served at the restaurants. Main meals are hard.
How does your educational institute or workplace support your dietary needs?
The cafeteria (near the Okuma Auditorium) at Waseda University offers many gluten-free options. While the meals are not necessarily labeled, “gluten-free,” the cafeteria’s salad bar has a selection of vegetables from which I could choose. The place also provides several meals without sauce or dressing that normally contains gluten.
What is the level of knowledge and understanding regarding your dietary conditions in Japan as compared to your home country?
Japan has just started to incorporate gluten-free options. So far, I have seen a few grocery stores with gluten-free sections; however, as far I am concerned, they are not common. People who are allergic to gluten are usually diagnosed with celiac disease. These people cannot have soy sauce that includes wheat, which is hard to find. Others have gluten intolerances, so they need to avoid gluten, although they are not diagnosed with an official disease. Japan has a low understanding of gluten-free options. When I lived in the United States, I saw people around me discussing their gluten intolerances, and people would understand. In Japan, I don’t think it’s recognized as much.
Are you able to fulfill your dietary needs or restrictions at the Japanese Konbini or Supermarket?
Yes. As aforementioned, Japan has many gluten-free options that are not officially labeled as such. If I go to the vegetable and fruit sections, which I love, I can find whatever I need and want. Kombinis are harder because products are usually inundated with preservatives and contain gluten, which are two of my biggest dietary nightmares.
In case you are seriously inconvenienced in terms of finding food to match your needs and requirements in Japan, how do you manage?
I manage by choosing vegetable-focused meals. For example, in restaurants in Japan, salads are usually considered appetizers. Therefore, I pick many of these appetizers instead of choosing one main meal, which often contain gluten. Other times, I talk to the server beforehand and ask for alternatives. A server catered to my needs when I asked her to replace my side dish, which happened to contain gluten, with another gluten-free dish. Other places are not so flexible, so I do have to be mindful of when and how I ask servers about my dietary restrictions.
Do you have any advice for newcomers to Japan who may follow the same diet routines or have food needs similar to yours?
My advice for newcomers to Japan is to find out which of the restaurants in your area has gluten-free options. Doing research beforehand could ease the burden on yourself because it could be daunting to ask restaurant servers about gluten-free options all the time, especially in Japan where the concept is still foreign. I would stick to grocery shopping if it is too hard to find a restaurant that finds dietary needs. The other option is to raise awareness about gluten-free diets. It would take time, but could be worth the try.
Can you recommend any restaurants that have supported your needs or cater to your diet style? Are there any online communities as well?
A family-friendly restaurant chain, Jonathan’s, has a wide selection of gluten-free noodles. From the menus that I have seen, it seems that the restaurant substitutes noodles that contain gluten with vegetable powder and other gluten-free ingredients. Another place I recommend is Rigoletto in Roppongi Hills. The restaurant has a diverse menu, and if you request for one, the restaurant will make their pasta gluten-free; it’s delicious!
Any additional comments/remarks.
I believe dietary needs/restrictions are not just issues pertaining food, but also about culture, diversity, and respect. Raising awareness is important, so thank you for coming up with this questionnaire!
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Our third respondent was Julia, a 27-year-old Austrian student who studied in Japan for a year.
Could you tell us a little about yourself and your dietary needs/restrictions?
My dietary needs before I came to Japan were mostly clear to me – I’m lactoseintolerant since 7 years and also have issues with soy, so I stay away from tofu and too much soy sauce and especially soy milk. When I then ate at an open buffett I got an anaphylactic shock and don’t know until today what caused it. I made an allergy test in Japan without specific results and therefore was super afraid of all the foreign food there (I didn’t have those issues two years ago when I visited Japan – but going to live off in a foreign country causes a lot more stress than a vacation on a body. I think people who are sensitive should know that this isn’t easy for the body – on a mental as well as physical level).
When you came to Japan, how difficult/easy was it to fulfill your dietary needs or find food according to your restrictions?
I hardly ever went out to eat and always had my anti-histamine pills with me. I got a lot of symptoms after eating ‘normal’ foods like ramen, sushi, drinking green tea – I’d always get heatflushes, unsteady heartbeat, dizzyness and feelings of sickness. So I quit eating out and buying processed food altogether and only cooked myself. I knew that it would be necessary for me to have a kitchen that I can access all time because I always tend to cook myself with fresh ingredients, also in Austria, so I fortunately already had a nice apartment with my own kitchen. This was one of the most important criteria when looking for a place to stay in Japan.
Are you able to freely find foods that match your requirements when you go out to dine at Japanese restaurants?
It was really, really hard finding a variety of unprocessed vegetables and fruits. I was used to having a big variety of either organic vegetables or fruit from all over the world always available in just 10 minutes walking distance from me in Austria – but in Japan I had to find 4 different shops so I could get all the things I would need. And even then it was hard and I ordered a lot of food, for example dried fruits, wholegrain pasta/rice and quinoa and most importantly: good organic oils on amazon.co.jp. It was at least three times more expensive than my life in Austria. I had to go a 20 minute walk to get non-organic vegetables in Japan (organic ones were REALLY hard find, which is a big problem when you’re also sensitive to pesticides like myself!!), a 15 minute walk to get to the store where I find sweets that I can eat (like sweet potato sticks with raw sugar) and better, organic meat, a 5 minute walk to get to the store with the good eggs, a 25min walk to get my very very expensive nuts and oils and so on. I spent about at least 6 hours a week just to find the things I would need for cooking, and for cooking myself even more time I guess. I always had to make my own little bento for university since there are no non-processed things to get in konbinis etc, besides bananas that is. Really, NON. Everything contains either lactose, glutamate, various other food additives I wanted to stay away from like sorbit, e-numbers, the list is neverending. I didn’t even find white bread without milk in it (just a few times in that far away store). So I also wasn’t able to eat sandwiches, bentoboxes, whatsoever because I could never know what was in there. There is an onigiri in 7Eleven though which only contains rice and salt. This would have been my ONLY option when without medication.
What is the level of knowledge and understanding regarding your dietary conditions in Japan as compared to your home country?
I made a very very expensive fructose test at an international hospital cause the japanese doctors didn’t even know most of the time what fructoseintolerance is and ignored the existence of this and also other sensitivities. I thought they’d be competent but I was totally disappointed with their little knowledge and help that was offered. I needed to find out everything on my own with the help of a foreign (french) osteopathe, who helped me with my back issues. So, in the end, I didn’t find out anything with the help of general doctors, except the fact that I developed very very bad vitamin and mineral deficiencies over time. I had hair loss, developed a heart dysfunction, was very weak and had to stop going to university because I was in so much pain (also because of my back) and it was so hard dealing with everyday life and food and everything. I then finally found a nice doctor at Showa University Hospital who finally prescribed me a lot of supplements and my condition got better. The generalist I saw before didn’t even think about that, although I already had the fear of constant breakdowns and an electrocardiograph running.
In case you are seriously inconvenienced in terms of finding food to match your needs and requirements in Japan, how do you manage?
What I ate in the end was only: quinos, flaxseed oil and salad/cucumbers (but peeled cause of the pesticides). Quinoa was hardly to be found in local stores so I always had to order it online, as well as a non-processed salt. Before that I lived with very expensive foods and imports, because non-processed and organic is very hard to find in Japan. I don’t know of many restaurants I could have went to without the fear of having ingredients in the food I need to stay away from – the only option stayed Shabushabu and Yakiniku, cause you get non-marinated meat which you can either cook in plain water or soup or roast on the grill. In the times I could eat rice it also was okay because you usually find plain rice in restaurants as side-dish, that’s an option I guess.
Do you have any advice for newcomers to Japan who may follow the same diet routines or have food needs similar to yours?
If you’re not fluent in Japanese and/or can[‘t] read it: it’s almost IMPOSSIBLE to find out what’s in the food Even the people working in restaurants don’t know their stuff most of the time. They would bring me the ingredient list to read it myself in doubt.
Can you recommend any restaurants that have supported your needs or cater to your diet style? Are there any online communities as well?
I don’t know of any online communities which could have helped me in Japan because when I googled my sensitivities in Japan there were only very few blog entries. The people in Japan are not really used to food sensitivities in general. Even lactoseintolerance seems not to be common. When I went to a Japanese friend’s place they told me they would cook everything according to my needs – and then again, put tsuyu in the soup which contains soy sauce and fish soup. Another Japanese friend who is also a cook wanted to cook me something when I already told him I’m only safe if I do it myself. Especially histamine intolerance is tricky because food develops histamine when too long out in room temperature, like fish/meat and so on. But he insisted and I told him that I can’t. Therefore I suggest that ‘normal people’ know even less than doctors about food sensitivities. It’s really, really hard to get by. There is a ‘natural lawson’ which offers a wide variety of expensive, but healthy food choices. Like chia seeds and also potato chips without additives and so on. If I had found that shop before everything got really bad in my case I would have been really happy. Otherwise, Amazon is a pretty good choice for doing the biggest part of grocery shopping and it’s very convenient since you get everything delivered to your door.
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While awareness regarding alternative food requirements and dietary needs is gradually on the rise in Japan, it’s clear that even in a globalized and well-resourced urban center like Tokyo, there’s still a lot to be wished for in terms of progress. Having convenient and inexpensive access to healthy food increases one’s ease of living and considerably reduces the mental strain that comes from living in a different country or even continent. We believe that a dietary style should be an expression of free will, rather than something shameful and oppressive that makes the thought of stepping out of one’s comfort zone into something potentially dangerous. We hope that with the rise of more sensitive communities and enterprises in the information age, following a unique dietary lifestyle will be an enjoyable form of personal liberation. Thanks to the understanding and caring nature of Japanese society, we’re sure that this will be a reality one day.
We wish our respondents and countless others like them all the best for their lives in Japan.
Restuarants recommended by our respondents:
https://www.happycow.net/reviews/ts-tantan-tokyo-29533
https://www.happycow.net/reviews/cafe-the-6bt-tokyo-60065
http://www.skylark.co.jp/jonathan/
https://www.happycow.net/reviews/ainsophjourney-tokyo-36193
Photo Credit:
1. kimberlykv http://www.flickr.com/photos/87542849@N00/4222665114″>Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake via http://photopin.com”>photopin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)
2. jpellgen http://www.flickr.com/photos/27917561@N00/31023353060″>Inaba Wako via http://photopin.com”>photopin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)