Vegetarian Resources in Ehime
My main resources as a vegetarian in Japan are knowledge, and shamelessness. Shamelessness is helpful when I feel I really must send back that bowl of raw tofu with green onions, ginger, and little bits of fish flakes all over the top. Knowledge means avoiding that situation in the first place, and not having to offend people who really are trying their best to accommodate my weirdo food needs.
An indispensable source of knowledge about being a vegetarian in Japan is the Hokkaido AJET "Guide to Being (and Remaining) a Vegetarian in Japan," with its new supplement for Vegans and Raw Foods people. There are also many good internet order sites for vegetarian food in Japan, such as Warabe Mura, Tengu Foods, and Ambika Trading Co. (for Indian foodstuffs). And finally, knowing which local cafes and restaurants are most accommodating is helpful, for those days when you just can't handle cooking yet another luscious, guaranteed-meat-free meal for yourself.
Guide to Being (and Remaining) a Vegetarian in Japan
This book was my best friend when I arrived. I brought it with me shopping, because it has the kanji for everything I could possibly want to buy, or avoid buying, and it was just easier to bring it along than to memorize all of that.
It contains nutritional information gleaned from authoritative resources, and Japan-specific advice on how to meet these nutritional needs using locally-available foods. In the Shopping Guide section, it lists an impressive number of possibly-unfamiliar foods, details what they are, and supplies the kanji as well as the romaji for them. I found this useful for avoiding animal products, sugar, and MSG, as much as for positive suggestions of what to buy next. It specifically lists all the different types of animal products and their kanji, so that one can specify exactly what it is one does not eat (‘niku' is not the all-inclusive term in Japanese that ‘meat' is in English).
In order to know where to find the ingredients on a label, the book includes a labelling section towards the back, with labels exactly as they might appear on food, and explanations of what the kanji means. Again towards the back, there is a listing of helpful phrases in Japanese that will help you communicate your dietary needs.
The Vegan section includes a specific list of warnings about the contents of foods that one might not anticipate, such as the common inclusion of fish products in miso. It's also got Vegan and Raw-Vegan ‘shopping requests' and ‘restaurant requests,' letters in both English in Japanese that can explain to the Japanese people who are helping you exactly what foods are okay and what aren't, as well as an explanation sheet in English and Japanese of what Veganism is, that can be shown to people who might be curious about your diet.
The recipes are international, including Indian and Middle Eastern, which means it's somewhat thin on Japanese recipes. It does include recipes for Japanese veggie soup stocks, okonomiyaki, tempura, vegan sushi, and an entire section on tofu.
Towards the end are a heap of resources on vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, cooking, nutrition, and animal rights.
Available from National AJET.
Shopping for food
Warabe Mura Wholefoods
The mandate of this obscure Gifu-ken company is, “We are committed to offering traditional natural whole foods that have been grown, whenever possible, organically, processed as little as need be, with absolutely no artificial additives, colourings or flavourings used in any of the products we carry. Only natural [sic] occurring sweeteners such as Brown Rice Malt, Hatomugi Malt [sic] are used in any of the products we stock and all are completely Sugar, Dairy, Egg, Fish, and Meat free.” They offer a wider range of healthier options than Tengu, including a whack of Japanese foods (supporting local Japanese organic farmers), and are competitively priced.
Highlights: organic veggie box, shipped weekly, for under 2000 yen; grains of excellent nutritional value such as quinoa and hatomugi; nut butters including tahini and white and black sesame pastes; brown rice mochi with no red bean paste; veggie miso of many varieties; handmade soya sauce; veggie ramen and noodles of all Japanese varieties; healthy Japanese snacks; nutritional yeast; beans & lentils; spices including all of the Indian and Western staples; aromatherapy oils; the usual toiletries and cleaners, as well as organic pads and pet care; a listing of books on vegetarian and macrobiotic foods & lifestyles, healing and yoga, juicing, etc etc; and beeswax crayons!
All their breads appear to be leavened, though they offer a varied selection of flours for making your own (including kamut, rye, quinoa, amaranth, and brown rice).
Warabe Mura Wholefoods: CPO Box 3, Tomika, Kamo-Gun, Gifu-Ken, 501-3300
Tel: 0574-54-1355 / Fax: 0120-54-1495 / warabemura@aol.com
Tengu Natural Foods
Only slightly less excellent than Warabe Mura, Tengu's mandate is: “ The Alishan Organic Center has grown out of our desire to provide the Foreign and Japanese community with a place to enjoy not only organic food, but organic thought!” Their services began once upon a time with providing foreigners and Japanese folk with healthy granola and peanut butter; now they offer a panoply of organic options, some non-organic, and all veggie. No mention of whether their organic products are imported or Japanese (relevant if you factor in transportation to your commitment to live lightly on the earth).
Highlights: organic ramen in various flavours; buckwheat soba; nummy baked goods (incl. unleavened carrot cake); kamut, quinoa, and amaranth flour; organic vanilla/orange/lemon extracts; excellent nut butters; wide selection of granola; Clif bars; teas, herbal teas, coffee, juices, and organic wines; good healthy cheese, incl. soy cheese; a variety of ready-to-cook instant meals; a Mexican section; a curry section; Indian pickles; all the spices you could want, Western and Indian; flax seed & extract; sprouting supplies; a wicked bean selection; housecare & toiletries; essential oils; and books on vegetarian cooking/lifestyle, healing, ‘family life,' yoga, shiatsu, and macrobiotics, as well as magazines, videos, and CDs.
Tengu stocks a wheat-free bread that contains no yeast. It contains: whole rice flour, oats, corn flour, rye flour, rice malt, natural salt, and baking powder. Contact them for more info.
Tengu Natural Foods: 185-2 Komahongo, Hidaka-Shi, Saitama Ken, 350-1251
Tel: 0429-82-4811 / Fax: 0429-82-4813 / www.alishan-organic-center.com /
tengu@gol.com
Ambika Trading Co.
Ambika is an internet company based in India that currently delivers amazing, varied, yummy Indian foodstuffs to Japan only. They have no mandate. Just good food. Check out their gulab jamun! Mmm! (Note: like many Indian sweets, gulab jamun is NOT VEGAN. Most other items on the site are vegan.)
Highlights:
Ambika Trading Co.: 1 FL, 7-7-4 Minami Senju , Arakawa-ku, Tokyo, 116-003 / www.ambikajapan.com / info@ambikajapan.com
Kansai Consumer Club
Another mail-order service reached me just in time for the writing of this article. Its mandate is: “KCC look [sic] after the health of our members by: providing organic, non-processed foods from farms and factories using methods we know we can trust; providing health products which help the body's immune system to fight stress and illness naturally; investigating the possibilities of hemp foodstuffs.”
Highlights include: a crazy array of hemp-based food products, incl. hemp beer; small and large organic veggie boxes; organic ice cream; organic black-bee honey; organic spices; organic sugarless jams; rooibos tea and many others; various flavours of brown rice mochi; brown rice milk; a large selection of natural pharmaceuticals and Chinese medicinals; incense; and dry ice. Also stock lots of meat and seafood; you're forewarned.
Kansai Consumers Club: 2-10-30 Nonomiya, Iberaki-shi, Osaka, 350-1251 / www.kansai-cc.co.jp
Matsuyama: Natural Food House
The largest natural foods store in Ehime, with an array of seasonal organic fruit and veggies, grains, dairy, house cleaners, toiletries, and even (gasp!) meat products. The Japanese word for organic is ‘yuukisaibai.' Some of Natural House's produce comes with roots, branches, or soil intact, increasing the lifespan and vitality of the harvested product.
Imabari: Takara
A smaller health food shop in Imabari. (I have not researched this, and no more specific info is currently available. -- S.)
Imabari: Vegetarian Shop, Imabari Honmachi.
Run by a Chinese-Maitraya Buddhist group, this Vegan shop is the only one of its kind on Shikoku. It sells non-animal products, non-MSG ramen, sauces, soup-stocks, vinaigrettes, instant noodles, gyoza, daizu (dried soya beans), and various ready-to-heat products such as croquettes and cutlets. No onions or garlic. (Ditto what I said above. -- S.)
Local Cafes and Restaurants
Note: This is by no means an exhaustive list. I live mid-ken, and know little of the Northern/North-Eastern/Southern reaches.
Matsuyama:
-- Ladkhi Indian Restaurant :
Two locations. First, the "Old Ladkhi's"; around the corner from Shieki. Follow the tram line in front of Takashimaya Dept Store around the corner. About two blocks up on the right-hand side is this small restaurant, tucked away and a little easy to miss. Look for the colourful sign on the sidewalk. The "New Ladkhi's" is on Ichibancho. From in front of Laforet and the mouth of Okaido, walk on the right side of the road in the direction of Baskin Robbins through two cross walks. It's on the right and a bit easy to miss except for the LARGE menu sign on the outside. A lot more spacious and sleek looking than the other location. Spotty service, but when they're good, they're *good*.
-- Spice Kingdom Indian Restaurant: From the mouth of Okaido (where the tram lines are), cross the street and walk up the gradually curving road that extends straight out in front of you. Walk for a while. Where this road ends in a fork, stick to the right-hand side, and you'll come upon this spacious restaurant. Alternatively, from EPIC, turn right and follow the big street to the first lights past the point where the trams turn. Cross the big street. The restaurant is on the left-hand side, a few shops up. Big portions, good taste.
-- Spice Cafe Indian Restaurant: Across from Haagen Dazs, on the Okaido side, 2nd floor. Portions have gotten smaller and the menu has changed slightly, but the food is delicious and the prices are generally low. There is an all-you-can-drink menu if you are up for cheap drinks. Most people are either loyal to Ladhki's or Spice Kingdom/Cafe. It depends on what you are looking for. Spice Kingdom/Cafe has a wider range of options including nan pizzas and the nan is ever so slightly sweet.
-- Kinchaiya Organic Restaurant: On the opposite side of Nakanokawa from the Gintengai, you can find Kinchaiya Organic Restaurant, with lunch specials, late-night dining and bar, and a super-cool fairy-light and stepping stone-lined hallway to the dark coppery washroom. Enjoy. Veggie options are sporadic, but the grains are good.
-- Naturel Coffeehouse: From the mouth of Okaido, walk down towards Gintengai. Within the first block, on the right-hand side, is a small white sign with bluish neon and black lettering saying ‘Naturel' in polite text. The cafe is upstairs. They currently offer a yummy tempe sandwich that is actually listed as a vegetarian option in the menu. (Their food offerings are sparse, so this is the only veggie option.) Good for a snack.
-- Mirai Kanai: Follow the directions to Spice Kingdom. At the sixth small sidestreet off to the right, you will see a sky-blue awning on the left hand side. This cafe/bar has yellow walls. It is small and doesn't serve much food, but if you ask Kimi-chan politely, she might make you a veggie sandwich that isn't on the menu. Serves amazing, authentic, spicy chai. Good place to spin poi, play devilsticks, or play didgeridoo. The food that is served at Mirai Kanai is a rather eclectic selection of Thai, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese influenced dishes. Many of these contain pork or chicken, however there is usually at least one veggie option in the days offerings.
Yoshida:
--Tandoor Indian Restaurant (Tandoru): The best Indian in Ehime, with a section in the menu for vegetarians. On the Uwa side of Yoshida, right on the highway.
men-tofu/momen-tofu: (“cotton”) firm & dense. for stir-frying, etc.yaki-dofu: seared momen. even firmer.
nama-age: fried momen. outside is honey-coloured, inside is soft. perfect for barbequing.
abura-age: fried thin momen, no soft parts. inari-zushi style.
Koya-tofu: frozen & defrosted again -- very very firm. from the cheeky veg monks of Koya-san.
General Tips
--Bringing your own dashi (soup stock/dipping sauce for noodles) to restaurants can make life easier. (Here's one I recommend, excellent for tempura, which restaurants can often improvise: one part lemon juice to one part soya sauce.)
-- Grocery stores provide dried ‘fu' products, i.e. soybean products that have undergone a chemical change, such as tofu, that are then dried, such as age (fried tofu) and other products that take on the texture of meat or fish. (Chinese in origin.) APEX in Nagoya-ken is a mail-order service that apparently supplies the dried version in high-quality. (www.hkkamkee.com/eng_html/content.htm is the only site I've been able to find that stocks this veggie-meat product (called APEX), but there was no information about shipping within Japan. -- S.) Okra is a cheap by-product of the tofu-making process that has a crumb-like texture with black specks, and is considered very healthy in Japan.
-- Grains such as barley (mugi) and millet (kibi or awa) are often mixed in with rice before cooking in Japan. These grains can substantially improve the nutritional value of your food, and can often be found in the rice section of the grocery store, or in the local rice shop. (Unless you live in inaka like me. -- S.)
-- Local farmer's markets are a great source of organic or low-pesticide produce, and the farmers selling them are a good source of information about how to cook what you've bought.
-- Onigiri (rice balls) at the local convenience store come in vegetarian flavours, such as ume (pickled plum).
-- ‘Aji no moto' and ‘kagaku choumiryou' are natural and chemical versions of MSG -- to be avoided. Sometimes their labelling is obscure; ask someone.
-- ‘Kanten' is a natural jelly made from seaweed often used in sweets, but be careful not to mix it up with gelatin, which is an animal product.
-- Rennet-less cheeses are mostly only available through Tengu (and are fabulous), although apparently Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese (regular-fat version) has no rennet. (Confirmed by Tengu: none of their cheeses contain rennet. -- S.)
-- Karuna.co.jp is a Japanese link that lists (sells?) products by vegetarian-friendly food manufacturers. No English, and no restaurants on Shikoku are listed.
Helpful Phrases
-- “I am a vegetarian. I do not eat pork, beef, or chicken.” = “Watashi wa bejitarian desu. Butaniku ya gyuniku ya toriniku o taberaremasen.” (To add more, ‘sakana' means fish, ‘ebi' means shrimp, etc etc...)
-- “What do you recommend from this menu?” = “Kono menyu de o-susume wa nan desu ka?”
-- “Does this have ( ) meat in it?” = “Kore wa ( ) niku ga haite imasu ka?”
Other Stuff
To find veggie restaurants in larger cities, go to the EcoSIG website, which has lots of good veggie-in-Japan info.
(I've had some frustrations finding specific restaurants in Tokyo, and would recommend, instead of trying to hunt them down on short visits, becoming comfortable with just asking any old restaurant if they can make something vegetarian for you; but the site is excellent nonetheless.)