日本のビーガンの生活・Vegan life in Japan

日本では「ベジタリアン」とか「ビーガン」というのことはあまり知られていないと思います。和食は魚とか他の畜産物（動物からできた食品）でよくできているので、日本に初めて来たときに、ビーガンの生活は難しすぎると思いました。でも日本の生活がだんだんと慣れてきたら、ビーガンの生活は思ったより簡単になりました。

東京に初めて来たときに、驚いたことにビーガンのレストランがたくさん見つけることができました。そこで、私の東京の好きなビーガンレストランを紹介したいです。最初は、私のいちばん好きなレストランは「T’s TanTan」というのビーガンラーメンのレストランです。メニューは全部ビーガンで、ラーメンの種類が六つぐらいあります。これは伝統的な日本のとんこつラーメンとか醤油ラーメンがあるだけじゃなくて、オリジナルメニューもあります。その中でいちばん人気があるラーメンはピーナッツバターラーメンです。ビーガンではない友達もこのラーメンはすごく美味しいと言っていたので、本当におすすめです。

洋食を食べたいならビーガンバーガーのレストラン「AinSoph Ripple」をおすすめです。このレストランではビーガンバーガーの種類が５つあるだけじゃなく、ビーガンブリトーとかマックとチーズもあります。このレストランのビーガンチーズバーガーとかマックとチーズはビーガンチーズでできていて、これは本当のチーズみたいです。

しかし、ビーガンレストランによく行くとお金がかかってしまうので、コンビニで見つけられるビーガン食品を紹介したいです。畜産物でできている食品と比べて、ビーガンの食品は少ないけど、色々なオプションがあります。例えば、いなり寿司とか梅干しおにぎりはいつもビーガンです。そして、マクロビオティックのダイエットは日本でも人気ですが、この食べ物も実はビーガンです。私のいちばん好きなお菓子はコンビニで見つけられる「マクロビ派ビスケット・カカオ味」です。

Before arriving in Japan, one of my biggest concerns was how I was going to survive as a vegan in a country so notably famous for sushi and ramen, and whose general cuisine is heavily based on fish and animal products. I knew that I didn’t want to compromise my vegan lifestyle because of this, but I also didn’t want to struggle with what to eat on a daily basis. However, through much research and getting used to life in Japan, I realised that Tokyo, and most other major cities in Japan are in fact pretty vegan-friendly.

What surprised me most about Tokyo was the huge range of vegan restaurants available in almost all areas of the city. Around the campus of Waseda University, there are four vegan (or vegan-options-available) restaurants serving both Japanese and Western food. Having vegan food so readily available next to campus was a huge relief. One of the most popular places around Waseda is called “Café VG” – the restaurant is vegetarian but most of the menu is vegan and they serve a mix of Japanese and Western food, including a range of vegan desserts. If you’re looking for some more traditional Japanese food, then a restaurant called “Yume-An” is another brilliant option. The place is owned by a vegetarian Taiwanese lady, who is more than happy to veganize almost anything on the menu, as well as make something on request. I highly recommend this restaurant as the food is excellent, cheap and the owner is extremely kind.

Venturing outside of Waseda, there are plenty more fantastic vegan restaurants. One of the most popular vegan places (and perhaps my favourite) in Tokyo is a vegan ramen shop called “T’s TanTan”. This place serves a selection of six all vegan ramen, ranging from traditional tonkotsu to a very unique peanut butter ramen, as well as vegan gyoza and karaage. The restaurant has three branches, including a newly opened one at Narita Airport.

However, if you’re looking for some familiar flavours from home or just simply crave a good burger, then I highly recommend an all vegan burger shop called “AinSoph Ripple”. The place has a selection of around five vegan burgers, including a vegan cheeseburger, as well as things like burritos, mac and cheese and salads. The restaurant makes their own vegan cheese which is incredible and has even been approved by many omnivore friends - so whether you’re vegan or not, I highly recommend trying this place.

Whilst there are many fantastic vegan restaurants in Tokyo, eating out often can get quite expensive on a student budget. So if you’re in a rush and need to grab something quick to eat, you may find yourself often resorting to konbini food. Whilst this may seem like a challenge as a vegan, I have in fact found many hidden gems. In general, some konbini foods that are pretty much always vegan include salted rice balls, inari zushi and umeboshi onigiri. Thanks to the popularity of macrobiotic diets in Japan, you will also be able to find some macrobiotic snacks including some cookies called 「マクロビ派ビスケット・カカオ味」which I highly recommend. The best konbini for vegan food is Natural Lawson – they have a big range of vegan food and snacks ranging from chocolate to cup ramen.

My biggest tip for surviving as a vegan in Japan is learning the vocab and kanji for common animal product ingredients so that you can easily scan ingredient lists to see if something is suitable. This includes the basics such as egg and milk （卵、牛乳）but the biggest one to look out for is だし. This is almost always derived from fish, and is snuck into more things than you would expect – even products that are seemingly vegan can often contain だし.

Look out for some sneaky カツオtoo, which is bonito – similar to だしthis is put into many foods that you would think are vegan – I definitely learnt the hard way with this one!

If you’re committed to being a vegan in Japan, I’d like to let you know that it is much easier than you think. I believe that there is an increase in awareness of veganism in Japan, which is proven by the fact that you’ll surprisingly be able to find many vegan products in big chain supermarkets in Tokyo. For example, one Japanese company has released a range of vegan cheese made from tofu which is easily found in Natural Lawson konbinis as well as some big chain supermarkets. Cities like Kyoto and Nagoya are also very vegan friendly, so even travelling shouldn’t be a problem if you know what to look out for. In terms of finding local vegan restaurants, I highly recommend an app called HappyCow which shows you all the vegan restaurants and options available in your surroundings – this app has definitely saved me. Whilst it may seem like you’re spoilt for choice in the UK, I believe that Japan has a lot to offer for vegans and that finding vegan food here is exciting and all part of the adventure. I hope this information will be useful to anyone curious about vegan life in Japan!