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The concept of vegetarianism in Japan is as alien as whale bacon eating is to an Indian.  The truth is that many people just don’t have a clue as to what being a vegetarian is.

And this is despite the fact that you can get a variety of vegetables that you cannot get in other countries.  If you are a mushroom fan, then definitely Japan is the country for you!  Although えりんぎ　eringi originally came from the Mediterranean, it has definitely taken off here. 

Also the Japanese love seasonal food (旬物 shun mono). Potatoes(新じゃが shin jyaga), onion(新たま shin tama), and cabbages(春キャベツ haru cyabetu) in the spring, eggplant （なす nasu） and pumpkin (かぼちゃ kabocya) in the summer,  burdock rool （ごぼう gobou） and negi in the fall, and carrots (にんじん ninjin） and horseradish （だいこん daikon） in the winter, just to name a few.

But try to go to a restaurant and ask for a vegetarian dish (ベジタリアン料理ありますか？ vegetarian ryouri arimasuka?) and 99 times out of a 100 you will get a blank stare…. Eventually you will give up and order a salad, but invariably it will have ham or egg.  When you point that out, they will look at you like, ham isn’t a vegetable?

And the ringer is the dashi.  If you order a Japanese dish, it will invariably contain fish stock (だし dashi).  Dashi actually comes in two types, the non-vegetarian bonito fish （鰹 katsuo) and the vegetarian kelp （昆布 konbu).  Most restaurants would use a combination, so at that point, vegetarian dishes would fly out the window.  But of course at home, you can just use the konbu dashi and you should be fine. 

Honestly before I joined my current company, I did not have many vegetarian friends and thus did not go out of my way to look for veg places. Because of the dashi situation, it is pretty difficult.  That is why I made sure that whomever I marry can eat non-veg food, otherwise I would never be able to go out!

But times are slowly changing.  Now there are many vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Japan.  I have explored many with my wife and co-workers and have listed our favorites here. Also Pritty uses HappyCow for other ideas for vegetarian restaurants.

Finally, I want to list a few words and phrases you can use in Japanese to see if you are ordering vegetaraian.

Meat      肉   niku
Beef      牛   gyu
Chicken   鳥   tori
Pork      豚   buta
Ham       ハム hamu
Egg       卵   tamago
Vegetable 野菜 yasai

Take out … please.
…抜きでお願いします。（ex. 肉抜きでお願いします。 Niku nuki de onegaishimasu)
…なしでお願いします。（ex. 肉なしでお願いします。 Niku nashi de onegaishimasu)

Does this dish have meat?
この料理に肉入っていますか？ Kono ryouri ni niku haitte imasuka?

Being vegetarian in Japan is difficult, but it does not have to be impossible.  There are many people who will try to help out, so my suggestion is to be persistant and hopefully good things will come!