Forum - View topicAnswerman - Are There Any Vegetarians In Japan?
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marvel knight
Posts: 96 |
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I assume the Indian restaurants can accommodate that.
I know Kaito Kid hates fish, so at least there is media representation of that. |
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Jex2193
 Posts: 283 |
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It's more he has a fear of fish so he avoids it as much as he can, but not liking/eating one kind of "meat" isn't going to change much 
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Dextres
 Posts: 428 Location: Decatur, GA |
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Interesting read Justin!
So, it goes back again to do your research first before making any major travel plans abroad. |
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JoeOfTomorrow
Posts: 61 |
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Vegetarianism. They really get under my skin. If one doesn't eat meat out of preference or got into some illness and can't eat meat, fine. But I really hate the kinds who are militant about not eating meat over some stupid ridiculous passing of morality and ethics. Cows are these big dumb stupid ugly things, we're supposed to eat them because if we didn't they'd be all over the place if we didn't. Same with chicken except they're small. We don't have canine teeth for fashionable reasons.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18180 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Let's leave soapboxing on vegeterianism out of this, mmmkay?
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lys
 Posts: 1008 Location: mitten-state |
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On a recent visit to Japan, I met up with some friends who live there, and they (knowing my taste and food intolerances) found a place in Shinjuku (Mr. Farmer, for anyone interested!) for lunch that had a number of vegan, gluten free, etc items on the menu; it also placed an emphasis on organic, locally-sourced ingredients. It even had mason jar decor! I felt right at home... The food was great, and there was a line to get in the whole time we were there, so it seemed to be popular enough. I don't know how much this trend might be catching on, but it is out there. Probably like in the US, you'll have an easier time finding options in the bigger cities and trendier areas.
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John Thacker
Posts: 1006 |
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One of the problems is that the Japanese concept of meat, niku (肉) doesn't include fish. So unless you're really careful about what you say, or the Japanese person is familiar with foreign restricted diets, it's difficult to get the point across. Even if you do get the point across, people can forget about bonito flakes, ingredients in dashi (stock), and so forth that will have fish, as Justin points out.
My wife and I recently stayed at an onsen ryokan that explained on their website how they couldn't really do substitutions and accommodate vegetarians for exactly this reason. The English page was pretty apologetic and polite about it. The Japanese page was amusingly passive aggressive, literally talking how fish was a "fundamental part of Japanese cuisine" and really assuming that anyone who could read Japanese would obviously know that as they explained how even allergies against fish (or soya) couldn't be accommodated. Last edited by John Thacker on Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:23 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1746 |
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There are many Japanese who consider themselves to be vegetarians even though they eat seafood. When I mentioned to a woman I had done business with for several years that, due to her fish consumption, she was a pescatarian, she became really upset. So there are some native Japanese people who do consider themselves to be vegetarians despite their regular consumption of fish.
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3445 Location: Finland |
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The situation is probably exaggerated by the high prices on vegetables and fruits in Japan.
Pondered about sending a question regarding that, but the answers seem obvious enough. In the case of fruit, those are often used as gifts in Japan, and for some rare examples the prices can become ludicrous. But even the grocery kinds fetch high prices which leads to... ...Protectionism. Apparently Japan was keen on protecting its core industries after the war, and although a lot has opened up for overseas competition, agriculture still seems to reap the benefits from it. At least that is part of the reason. Other issues contributing are the generally small farm sizes, high cost of fuel for transport, and even the fact that while cities go larger and people move from the rural areas, the voting power of the different prefectures don't decline proportionally, a distortion that's likely to help keep the current status quo. Might be a reason we often see fruits of some kind as centerpieces in anime, apples, watermelons... How often do we see that in Western media, other than in passing?... |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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My siblings are vegetarian, and when the younger of the two stayed in Hiroshima as part of a school exchange, she was actually catered for within a margin of error. That said, the exchange was organised by a Japanese international school, within which an acquaintance with western norms was supposedly higher than in ordinary institutions.
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13224 |
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The animals are already dead, might as well eat them I say.
So far as vegetarian anime character goes, the only one coming to mind is Rei Ayanami from Evangelion. |
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Blanchimont
Posts: 3445 Location: Finland |
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There is of course Centorea from Monster Musume, but I guess that's cheating... 
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epicwizard
Posts: 420 Location: Ashburn, VA |
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I never knew that there were barley any vegetarians living in Japan. Looks like I learned something new about Japanese culture today!
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Seiya0890
 Posts: 185 |
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What about a gluten free diet ? Or Low fodmap ?
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FloozyGod
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Thank god, I'm moving to Japan
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