I'd cook myself.

All those pickles, nuts, Tofu, beans, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, noodles, and surely and endless more.

Are you saying you can't cook?

yes, you will manage.

Now I am feeling VERY hungry:)

Some links for ya!
Japanese Food – vegetarian
BLACK MOON - Japanese Food Recipes
Vegetarian Journal Jul/Aug 96 Japanese Cuisine -- The Vegetarian Resource Group
Amazon.com: Zen Vegetarian Cooking (9784770023094): Soei Yoneda: Books
Kurashi - News From Japan: Pioneers Of Organic, Vegetarian Food In Japan
Tokyo Food Page Listings - Vegetarian and Health Food
Kyoto Vegetarian Restaurants -HappyCow- Health Food / Vegan Dining Japan


Japanese Vegetarian Cuisine Recipes

SHINGJAGAIMO NO GOMA FUMIAE
New Potatoes in Sesame Sauce)
(Serves 4)

Try this potato appetizer.

11/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon rice syrup
1/2 teaspoon karashi Japanese mustard
1 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil
2 medium-size new potatoes
2 small cucumbers

Start a 3/4 full, 3-quart pot of boiling water on the stove. Mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice syrup, mustard, and sesame oil together in a small bowl. Let this mixture stand.
Peel and cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch julienne strips, 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. Rinse the julienne pieces, then drop them into the boiling water. Make sure all the potatoes are in the boiling water. When the water reboils, count to 10 slowly, then empty the potatoes into a bowl with cold tap water running into it. Wait until the potatoes are cool, then drain and let them sit in a colander.
Peel and seed the cucumbers. Cut the trimmed cucumbers into julienne strips the same size as the potatoes. In a bowl, mix the potato and cucumber strips together, then gently pour the sesame sauce all over the vegetables. Let the dish marinate a few minutes. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Total calories per serving: 84
Fat: 1 gram

KABU NO ICHIYAZUKE
(Quick Turnip Pickles)
(Serves 4)

Turnip pickles are served with just about every meal in Japanese vegetarian restaurants and monasteries.

5-6 fresh turnips, no more than 2 1/2 inches in diameter
3 teaspoons sea salt

Remove the leaves and stems from the turnips. Wash leaves, stems, and turnips carefully, then cut the turnips into 1/4 inch rounds. Place on a flat plate, then sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt. In a pot, boil the turnip leaves and stems for 1-2 minutes. Cool under running water. Cut into 1/4 inch long pieces. Sprinkle on the remaining salt. Spread the cut, salted leaves over the salted turnips in a screwtop pickling jar, or place turnips and leaves under a heavy weight. Leave the vegetable to cure overnight.
It's a good idea to rinse the turnip pickles slightly before serving, then toss and drain in a colander. Serve cool. Add soy sauce to taste.

Total calories per serving: 20
Fat: 1 gram

SHIITAKE-KOMBU DASHI
(Mushroom and Seaweed Seasoning Broth)
(Serves 4)

A fresh vegetarian dashi that can be prepared in 3-4 hours from shiitake (mushrooms) and kombu (seaweed) blended together with seasonings such as sea salt. This broth is a base to which many other flavorings will be added. I have yet to see it for sale in any stores in the United States.

4 x 4 inches of kombu seaweed (available in Oriental groceries and health food stores)
4-5 high-quality, dried shiitake mushrooms
4 cups water

Wipe the kombu clean with a damp paper towel. Let the kombu soak in the water for at least 3 hours, then heat the water until it is just about boiling. Turn the flame off, remove the kombu, add the shiitake mushrooms, and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove the shiitakes (use them in a stir-fry dish fairly soon). You now have shiitake-kombu dashi. Store the liquid in the refrigerator in a closed container.

Total calories per serving: 14
Fat: 1 gram



NINJIN NO AMANI
(Sweet Cooked Carrots)
(Serves 4)

This carrot recipe makes use of the shiitake mushrooms from the shiitake-kombu dashi.

1/2 pound peeled carrots
4-5 shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water 30 minutes, then sliced 1/4 inch thick, or from the shiitake-kombu prepared in the above recipe
1 cup shiitake-kombu dashi
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon rice syrup or other sweetener
1-2 teaspoons mirin (sweet vinegar available in Oriental groceries)

Peel the carrots and cut in rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Combine all ingredients except carrots and mushrooms in a saucepan and cook together five minutes on low heat. Add the carrots and sliced mushrooms, and simmer 5-10 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed in the soft vegetables. Serve at room temperature.

Total calories per serving: 54
Fat: 1 gram


MUSHINASU
(Steamed Eggplant)
(Serves 4)

Any leftovers can be left in the sauce for one day.

4 or 5 3/4 pound Oriental eggplants (the long, purplish ones) or 2 one-pound European-type eggplants
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon chopped onions
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 to 1 Tablespoon rice syrup

Cut away the tops and bottoms of the eggplants. Steam them gently 5-7 minutes, or until soft. Test with a toothpick or bamboo skewer. When eggplants are done, let them cool. When they're cool, cut them into quarters, lengthwise. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then spread the cool eggplants around a flat plate to form an 8-pointed star. Combine the sauce ingredients and pour all over the eggplants. Serve with hot rice at room temperature.

Total calories per serving: 78
Fat: 2 grams



OKURA NO NIBITASHI
(Okra Stew)
(Serves 4)

Another recipe using shiitake-kombu dashi.

20 okra pods
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup shiitake-kombu dashi (see previous recipe)
1 teaspoon usukuchi (light) soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon mirin (sweet vinegar)
Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Wash the okra, then cut the stems off. Rub each pod with salt, taking off the okra fuzz on the skin with your fingers. Wash your hands after this operation. Drop the trimmed and cleaned okra into a large pot of boiling water until they soften slightly, about 3-5 minutes.
Combine the dashi, usukuchi, and mirin in a 3-quart pot. Bring to a boil, add the okra and let them boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let the pot stand until it is cool. Arrange on a serving dish, then sprinkle dry roasted sesame seeds over the stewed okra.

Total calories per serving: 40
Fat: 1 gram

:) <3

ty?

do forgive-I thought you said you DID eat those.

If you eat those you are not a vegetarian.
so your just perfect

A vegan will have a very hard time in Japan. Deep-fried vegetables are sometimes fried in lard, not vegetable oil. Dairy may be used more often. I would say be prepared for a lot of confused looks and skipped meals.

Wouldn't that hurt?

As a true vegetarian (no animal meat, fats etc), my husband found it quite difficult in Japan. We tried to talk to them (in Japanese) no meat, no fish etc, etc, but they didn't get it. A 'vegetarian' tenpura came out with chunks of fish in it, not to mention all the bonito dashi that gets used all over the place.

I am a pescetarian (no meat but eat seafood, mostly health reasons but moving slowly towards vegatarian for environmental as well) so I had no troubles at all.

A vegan eating out would probably have a few issues, I think. Vegetarianism seems a foreign concept, I couldn't imagine explaining that you also don't eat butter, milk, eggs etc.

We found the areas surrounding the shrines to be more vegetarian friendly.

Buying food is super easy in Japan so cooking meals for yourself would be fine as long as your homestay family were ok with that. You'd need to explain yourself fully because there is still a stigma in western countries so I think it would seem quite odd and even inconsiderate to not just eat what everyone else eats without being explained.

I'd say you could manage, just stay away from yoshinoya and any yakiniku restaurants

Maybe you should question your vegetarianism. I think it's unnatural, personally.


But then again, I'm lucky enough to live a place where I can get local dairy, produce, and meats.

That's a very interesting byproduct of modern society. "What we do not see can't hurt us." It's not like seeing the animal you eat die is a part of most of our lives... I've never seen what I've eat live aside from crawfish (Louisiana cuisine).

More related, I have a friend who had a somewhat similar experience in Japan. It wasn't that he was a vegetarian or anything, he was simply allergic to most seafood. This included fish and shellfish. This alone made eating a little difficult in Japan. In fact, he'd be joked with often about how he can't eat fish (all good natured :D ).

The worst part is when we we're invited to go out to eat with some Japanese people, the main food was almost always based on fish.