Essential Japanese for Vegetarian Travelers

In you stay at a temple in the Mount Koya area, you may be able to enjoy a vegetarian food named

• 精進料理  /  しょじん りょり  /  Shojin ryori 
• This is a buddhist temple food

But, normally Shojin ryori is not served outside the temple.

Survival Guides

If you are a vegetarian traveling in Japan, you may want to read the following general guides first:

• Vegetarian Survival Guide to Japan
• Eating vegan in Japan – survival guide
• Groceries in Japan – A Short Guide
• 八百屋（やおや）— A grocery store that mainly sells vegetables and fruits

In this article, we try to offer more suggestions and helps for a vegetarian traveling in Japan.

Most Common Japanese Vegetarian Foods

If you are a vegetarian, you may want to consider the following common vegetarian dishes in Japan:^[1]

1. Mochi / 餅 / もち / mochi
2. Eggplant /  なす / nasu (and other vegetable side dishes)
3. Skewer  /  串物  / くしもの / kushi-mono
4. Pickles  /  漬物 / つけもの / tsukemono
5. Daikon / 大根 / だいこん / daikon
6. Beans / 豆 / まめ / mame
7. Nori seaweed (and kelp) / 海苔 / のり / nori
8. Tofu / 豆腐 / とうふ / tofu
10. Burdock root (and sometimes carrot) 
/ 金平/ きんぴら / kinpira
11. Rice / 米 /  コメ / kome
• Rice ball / お握り / おにぎり / onigiri

If you stay in Kyoto area, you will find more vegetarian choices like:

• Tofu skin / 湯葉 / ゆば / yuba 
• Wheat Starch  / なマーフ  / nama-fu 
• Kyoto-style vegetables / 京野菜 / きょ やさい / kyo yasai 
• Dark seaweed / 鹿尾菜  / ひじき / hijiki
• Dried daikon strips / きりぼし大根 /  kiriboshi daikon 

Dashi Broth

Dashi (だし)is a Japanese stock or broth, and it is a fundamental ingredient in many Japanese dishes including vegetarian dishes. Dashi is made from kombu (dried kelp), bonito flakes (dried and smoked skipjack tuna that is shaved into thin flakes), anchovies/sardine (iriko or niboshi), or a combination of all or two of them.

In case you are a vegan, maybe you want to pay more attention to what ingredients are used in the Dashi (だし) broth.

Useful Japanese Phrases

As a vegetarian, you can watch Yuka's video here to learn some useful phrases while you travel in Japan:

I am a vegetarian

わたし
 私 は ベジタリアン です
Watashi wa bejitarian desu


I don't eat meat 

わたし     にく    た
 私  は お肉 を 食べません
Watashi wa Oniku wo tabemasen


I don't eat seafood 

わたし      さかな     た
  私 は お 魚 を 食べません
Watashi wa Osakana wo tabemasen


I don't eat egg 

わたし       たまご     た 
私 は お 玉子 を 食べません
Watashi waō tamago o shoku bemasen

Is bonito used in the dashi broth?
             ぶし    つか
おだし に  かつお節 わ 使って いますか
Odashi ni Katsuobushi wa tsukatte imasuka?


I'm a vegan 

わたし   かん ぜん さい しょく しゅぎしゃ
 私 は 完  全  菜  食 主義者   です
Watashi wa kan zen saishoku shugisha desu

Photo Credit

• Deni Kirkova

References

1. 10 vegetarian foods you can order at almost any Japanese restaurant
2. 食べログ (Tabelog) 
• Restaurant search in Japan
3. Meaning of Japanese
• Pronunciation sounds good
4. Japan Guide: 4 Useful JAPANESE Phrases for Vegetarians :JAPAN 101 (video)
5. Japan Travel Guide: 5 Things You Should Know about Restaurants in Japan (video)
6. Japan Guide : 5 Things You should Know about Restaurants in Japan #2 : Japan Travel Guide (video)
• Need to know about what otoshi (or cover charge) is at izakaya (居酒屋).  
• Normally, you cannot avoid paying for otoshi.
7. Eating vegan in Japan – survival guide
8. Some vegan restaurants in Kyoto (2008)
9. Groceries in Japan – A Short Guide
10. Survival Japanese at Restaurants (Travel for a Purpose)
11. Romanization of Japanese
12. yōshoku (洋食)—Western-style Japanese Foods
13. Survival Japanese at Restaurants (Travel for Life)
14. 111 Japanese Phrases for Beginners (video).
15. HOW TO SAY HELLO IN JAPANESE (video)
16. Japanese: Top 25 Adjectives to Learn (Travel for Life)
17. Japanese: Top 15 Questions to Learn (Travel for Life)