Vegan In japan? lol :')

[halfdead]

ha well.
I am currently in a japanese class in my high school and We had a japanese sensei visit, and I was told that he knew of a a teeny bit of vegetarians but had never heard of a vegan.

wellllllllllllll[

I'm to be studying abroad for a few months there-coming up.
So -do you think I could manage?

[KaiTea]

I don't know, but let me know how it goes.

I am a vegetarian, not a vegan. However, I do not eat fish, chicken, and I am very picky. XD

[xYinniex]

Tofu/ beancurd/soy based dishes should be fine.
And again, i'm sure they sell pulses/beans and stuff. I know azuki beans are delicious.

[komitsuki]

Very conservative rural East Asian cuisines are typically quasi-vegan.

Originally Posted by xYinniex

Tofu/ beancurd/soy based dishes should be fine.
And again, i'm sure they sell pulses/beans and stuff. I know azuki beans are delicious.

You forgot seitan (wheat gluten).

[ozkai]

Originally Posted by halfdead

ha well.
I am currently in a japanese class in my high school and We had a japanese sensei visit, and I was told that he knew of a a teeny bit of vegetarians but had never heard of a vegan.

wellllllllllllll[

I'm to be studying abroad for a few months there-coming up.

So -do you think I could manage?

Japan is a vegetarians paradise.. You are in luck

[nanda]

Originally Posted by komitsuki

You forgot seitan (wheat gluten).

omg i thought u said "satan" lol

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by nanda

omg i thought u said "satan" lol

Huh? What are you talking about?

[sarasi]

Originally Posted by ozkai

Japan is a vegetarians paradise.. You are in luck

Ozkai, can you elaborate on that? I'm a vegetarian living in Japan, and I totally disagree. A fish-eating vegetarian in Japan would have a much easier time, but Japanese food that doesn't contain either fish stock or pork fat is relatively rare.

halfdead, I hope you aren't planning to do a homestay when you come here. It would be very difficult for a Japanese family to cater for a vegan and you would cause them a lot of inconvenience- they would have no idea what to serve you. You would be better off getting your own room somewhere and preparing your own food.

Incidentally if you do an internet search, you will find loads of information and in fact whole websites dedicated to the topic of being vegetarian/vegan in Japan.

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by halfdead

I am currently in a japanese class in my high school and We had a japanese sensei visit, and I was told that he knew of a a teeny bit of vegetarians but had never heard of a vegan.

Live in a place where you can cater yourself for conservative Buddhist cuisine. That's all I can say.

[Abasio]

You will most likely find it very difficult because most Japanese people don't understand what being a vegetarian is let alone a vegan. The idea that meat is murder is a very foreign concept here. There are lots of food that is not meat but there will be times when you are munching down on a purely vegetable (advertised) dish and you'll notice the distinct taste of dead animal flesh in your mouth. You would have to be very careful what you eat, a vegetable sandwich has pork in it :P Also the country is not set up for vegetarians with very few places catering to the vegetarian market so even innocent looking dishes could easily have been cooked using animal fat or products.

A few nights ago I was watching TV and they showed images of a wild boar being shot. The women watching were so shocked and appalled then relieved when it turned out only to be a tranqualiser dart. The looks on their faces showed true emotion to this. Then.....they wheeled out the Boar all cooked and obviously smelling delicious, all their care for the animal it had been that they just had melted away as they tucked in shouting oishii at every possible moment.

Very odd attitudes to food.