Sushi! Neon lights! Ramen in a can! These are the adventures of a 20-something vegetarian living and eating in Japan.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was about five years old — no meat, no fish, no chicken stock, no bonito flakes. I’ve traveled and eaten in France, Italy, England, Germany, and Hungary without having to change my diet, but three months in Japan with my non-vegetarian boyfriend? At the very least it wouldn’t be easy, and I knew I might not get by without having to compromise a little … as in fish oil, not Kobe beef.
I came, I saw, and I wouldn’t say I conquered exactly, but I made it out still a vegetarian. I left Tokyo in March 2010, but I’m still writing about Japan from my current home of Minneapolis. Have a topic suggestion? Want to write a guest post? I’d love that! Leave me a note in the comments below or find me on twitter (@wanderlustic) or AIM (tokyotangerine) and I’ll get in touch with you.
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More: Why Vegetarian?
Hello!
I found your blog while searching vegetarian near Akihabara.
18 of us from Singapore will be at Akihabara on 25 May 2012 before going to Narita Airport back to Singapore.
Could you please advice us is there any place we can have vegetarian lunch ( Buddhism vegetarian ) at Akihabara ?
By the way, We will be in Tokyo from 17 to 21 May, will be heading disaster areas for volunteer work from 21 to 25 May.
Hope to hear from you.
Thank You.
Hi there. When you say you’re looking for a Buddhist vegetarian lunch, do you mean that you want a shōjin ryōri meal or just that you will be eating in accordance with Buddhist principles (vegan, no spices that assault the senses, etc.)?
Akihabara is a very modern neighborhood, so there aren’t as many traditional-style restaurants, but according to this shōjin ryōri search engine there is actually one shōjin ryōri restaurant 2 minutes away from Akihabara Station.
You’ve probably seen my note on Siddique Indian restaurant, but I don’t think they will have anything vegan–all of their curries probably have cream or cheese in them. For fast food, I do remember there being a Freshness Burger or Mos Burger (both of which have vegetarian/vegan options) very close by, but I can’t seem to find it on Google maps.
I would recommend watching to see if the Tokyo Vegan Meet-up Group will be having a meeting when you’re there. You could also contact the group to see if they have any recommendations for vegan restaurants in Akihabara.
I hope that helps! Let me know if there are any other questions I can try to answer.