30 Days Vegetarian Trip in Tokyo (1)
11/03/2016
Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo, Japan and stay for more than 30 days. During this period, I needed to figure out how to survive as a vegetarian and not consume any spices or ingredients from the onion or garlic families.
It was a challenging experience when we consider that Japan is a country that prefers seafood and does not have a large vegetarian population. However, my experiences in Japan have proved that it is possible. Due to my special diet, I am very picky and I have to check all the ingredients on the packages to make sure that I purchase only items that I can eat.
One thing I realized was that in my country, the back of package will usually have the nutritional information such as the percent of Total fat (Saturated and Trans, Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats), Sodium, Cholesterol, Total Carbohydrate, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron, etc.
However, in Japan, only a few food items will include some nutritional information. Most of the food package only gives the name, ingredients, weight, consumable period, ways of storage and the maker. This is very different with the amount of information consumers can have from packaged foods in the U. S. I think it is important to have this information because some people have to watch how many fat or calories they eat or how much sodium or saturated fats they consume.
There are a few interesting items that I usually don’t have problems with having in the United States my kind of diet as a vegetarian and but not in Japan. The first thing I found was bread; in Japan, the package for bread always included animal shortening (ショートニング) but not the vegetable shortening that is used in the United States.
Even though the white sandwich bread looks so delicious here (I think it looks a lot more delicious than the bread in the United States), I am not able to eat it because it uses animal shortening (ショートニング). It is a pity. However, there are also some food items in Japan that I like, such as rice. I can find many different brands of rice and also some you do not have to wash first before you cook it; that is very convenient.
Another item is Tofu; there are so many different kinds of Tofu in Japan such as; soft Tofu, firm Tofu, deep fried Tofu, Tofu made from sesame seed, Tofu skin (yuba) etc. They are all so well made, delicious and healthy, I like every one of them.
I would also like to mention one of the vegetables that I think it is very healthy and practical for consumers. It is the toumyou 豆苗. I like it because I can continue to keep it growing and eat it fresh even after a week. According to the nutritional information on the package, it has variety of Vitamin B, K, C, E, iron etc. Toumyou is a wonderful vegetable, especially for vegetarians.
There are many good supermarkets in Japan. Some of them is focus on organic foods, I did not have a chance to check them out. The most convenient stores for me are the vegetable and fruit stores located on the way as I go to school. I always check them out on the way home and can usually find some vegetables or fruits at good prices.
In general, I have had a very good experience with the supermarkets in Japan. I can find foods that I am able to eat and full of nutrition, even for my kind of vegetarianism. I would love to come again.
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