Dietary Restrictions and Food Allergy in Japan

Posted on by J Traveller

Here’s a simple collection of informational links for people with various dietary restrictions, be it for health related issues, ethical or religious restrictions. some links may be in multiple categories but for simplicity sake, it’ll be listed based on it’s main topic. and as for pescetarians, you’re in luck, since most of Japan’s cuisine (with a big exception on ramen), are pescetarian (vegetarian diet + fish/seafood). And unlike Chinese desserts, rarely do traditional Japanese desserts use lard or any other animal fat/gelatin in their production, even with a name like Yokan(羊羹: sheep stew), those traditional gelatinous sweets are often made with seaweed based agar-agar, thanks to Japan being an island nation, but it’s still difficult to determine if the production methods of ingredients are entirely vegan(such as using bone char to bleach sugar, but on the other hand, HFCS is common enough).  This is by no means a comprehensive list for those on strict diets, but it’s a good list to begin research.

– Additional information as most non-Chinese are not familiar with this. this is a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet(some orthodox monks even skip dairy and eggs), with some exceptions. alcohol is restricted, although cooking wine/sake/mirin is sometimes tolerated. Also restricted are certain aromatic vegetables in the Allium family (葷): chives, leeks, garlic, onions, shallots, and scallions are the main ones. while most herbs including parsley and coriander are ok. this differs from other Buddhist countries with less or different restrictions. in Japan, the most common Buddhist Vegetarian is called Shojin Ryori, but usually these are prepared by monks and are like kaiseki, gorgeous but extremely expensive.

This last one is a great print out for Buddhist Vegetarians and lists the Gokon restricted vegetables and that bonito flakes are a no-no.

On some popular foods and the confusion whether they’re vegan or not.

Natto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AwNaPrBbC4

Feel free to make suggestions to this list, including categories i may have missed.

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