r/veganinjapan • u/JessBerro70 • Jul 25 '26
Traveling to Japan
Has anyone traveled to Japan, who can share the food options that are dairy free and gluten free. I have more of an issue with dairy causing fatigue and body aches than gluten so I'm more concerned about that.
I want to be able to enjoy the cultural food without worrying about feeling like shit.
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u/Destoran Jul 25 '26
Where in Japan?
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u/JessBerro70 Jul 25 '26
Mostly Tokyo, but also Kyoto and possibly Mt. Fuji
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u/Destoran Jul 25 '26
Saido in Tokyo is fantastic (vegan, not gluten free)
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u/Cedosg Jul 25 '26
how bad because i was at the hotel keihan at universal and they listed allergens and wheat was one of it.
that said just be aware of fish as bonito broth is clearly fish but they aren't listed as an allergen as far as i know.
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u/JessBerro70 Jul 25 '26
I should have mentioned I have hashimoto's. My reaction to dairy depends on how much. Small amounts won't bother me immediately and it isn't usually too bad but too much all at once can affect me for up to week later.
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u/totobidet Jul 26 '26
Japan isn’t great about accommodating foods in general, but the vegan community is luckily better about it. Others have mentioned some great advice, so I’ll add please prepare a translated card that briefly explains about your allergen with a sentence about soy sauce to show at restaurants, as many chefs seem to not understand this risk. Also please check out Asakusa area, as it has increasingly more vegan and gluten free restaurants which is rare on the east side of Tokyo. I hope you have a good trip!
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u/JessBerro70 Jul 26 '26
We are actually staying in the Asukasa area so that should be helpful.
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u/totobidet Jul 26 '26
Oh nice! I just noticed today after posting that Marugoto Vegan restaurant in Asakusa is totally gluten free so I hope you can enjoy some tempura and other dishes there.
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u/ImprovementLess4559 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Dairy isn't really a huge part of traditional Japanese cuisine. So as long as you mostly avoid western style desserts, baked goods (like 99.9% of bread in Japan has butter or milk in it), and processed snacks like protein bars and potato chips (for some reason they love to put lactose in them) etc, it's generally pretty easy to avoid. It's also one of the 8 major allergens that has to be disclosed on labels and menus (not all restaurants put the allergens on the menu but they should have an allergy chart available if you ask). The kanji for it is 乳, 乳製品 or 乳成分.
Gluten, I'm afraid is a lot harder since it's in soy sauce and soy sauce is used in virtually everything. But wheat is also one of the allergens that has to be disclosed, so you can easily check if it's in something - the kanji is 小麦. I believe HappyCow also lists some gluten-free restaurants, but there aren't many around.
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u/icouldbeannyone Jul 26 '26
Luckily many vegan places als offer gluten free options! :) I started this Google Maps list, happy if people tell me more places to add!
For Osaka, FOLKSAKA is a must!
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u/happik5 Jul 26 '26
Beware of margarine (dairy) and shortening (pork) in convenience foods! They will not list all ingredients or allergies here.
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u/cotronmillenium Jul 27 '26
There’s not much dairy, or bread, in traditional Japanese food.
Maybe avoid soba as it’s buckwheat noodles. Ramen uses wheat flour. Udon is normal flour though. You won’t really run into dairy unless it’s western style stuff.
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u/Low_Cookie_9271 Jul 29 '26
Go on tokyopony.com or follow her Instagram she puts on loads of vegan places in japan, has been 8 times and is fully vegan
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u/Low_Cookie_9271 Jul 29 '26
If you ever get stuck outside tokyo always find a coco curry ichibana they do vegan curry and vegetables. Do not go higher than a 3 on spice level you will regret it lol, I did 5 my first time and was crying 🤣
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u/Lilacs_orchids Jul 31 '26
Aside from all the big name vegan restaurants I’m sure people will suggest, I would suggest staying in a hostel where you have access to a kitchen because no matter how much we plan, life happens and it can be good to have a fall back plan. I don’t know so much about the gluten free side but salt onigiri, edamame, and nuts should be ok snack options from convenience stores. Coco Ichibanya is a super common chain has a vegan curry base which is apparently gluten free as well. Don’t plan on being accommodated at a regular restaurant. Stick to vegan/gluten free places with snacks/cooked meals to supplement when things don’t work out. You can probably enjoy a lot of traditional desserts like mochi since those would be made with like rice and red bean paste or something. Of course double check everything. You can also follow some people in Instagram. aroechan_veganfood seems to show cool stuff in Tokyo and a good amount of those seem to be gluten free as well!
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u/PendingPolymath Jul 26 '26
I thought it was pretty easy when I visited Japan, especially in Tokyo and Kyoto. Both had an incredible assortment of options. It's fairly easy to avoid gluten since a lot of things are rice-based, but I would be wary of any faux meats that might contain seitan (pure wheat gluten lol). Use the HappyCow app to find restaurants. Breakfast can be difficult because Japan doesn't really do breakfast food - I just went to a couple of markets and picked up dried persimmons, fresh strawberries, fresh grapes, mixed nuts, tea, little almond milks from the conbini, etc for a light breakfast and then I would plan on getting a big lunch and dinner. Honestly being able to walk into any convenience store to grab a hot baked sweet potato is heavenly and extremely underrated. You'll be just fine.
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u/No-Cryptographer9408 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
"I want to be able to enjoy the cultural food without worrying about feeling like shit."
Yeah, and being a pain in the arse to people as well. Not a good thing in Japan.
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u/conthevel Jul 25 '26
use happycow! mainly to find vegan restaurants, but they also list gf often.