Some Japanese might tell you that Japan is a
vegetarian-friendly place.
It's a lie.
You'll start realizing the colossal dimensions of this lie soon after you arrive. Probably with your first meal out.
Vegetarians love tofu. It's a great source of plant protein, and it can even taste good. But we prefer to have it not buried under a ton of fish shavings, unmentioned in the menu.
Well, if tofu didn't work, maybe you should go for something else - like good old noodles!
Vegetarians love soba noodles. They are made of buckwheat, which is super healthy and delicious. But in 999 cases out of a thousand, soba noodles in Japan will be made with fish soup stock. Kamaboko, an easily removable piece of "fish cake," is a non-issue compared to the ubiquitous fish stock. Japanese do have other traditional types of soup stock, like konbu (seaweed) and shiitake. But they decided that soba noodles and udon noodles and miso soup and everything must be made with a fish soup stock.
Okay, so noodles didn't work. It's time for a 100% safe option:
Vegetarians love vegetable curry. So it's always a surprise to learn that Japanese "vegetable curry" is often made with meat.
The problem is that menus in Japan never mention the small, unimportant fishy or meaty details about the "I'm all just vegetables!" looking meals.
Of course if that's the way meals have been made in Japan for centuries, then it's a "tradition" and no one cannot insist on changing it. What vegetarians ask for is far, far smaller and easier to do:
Dear restaurants in Japan, could you kindly just
mention the fishy or meaty facts in the menu, please?
Now that you realized how unreliable menus in Japan are, you know that you should
always ask before ordering.
But you'll soon notice that your careful approach leads to a predictable outcome: you end up eating salads and desserts. You
never get to eat a proper, balanced meal that would actually
fill your stomach in a satisfying way.
These thoughts are a sign that you might have gotten a serious crack in your vegetarian hard core.
But don't panic. All you need to do is wait a few more years. By your 10th year in Japan, you will have mastered all of the necessary coping strategies.
The key is Vegetarians' Decision Making Chart, which of course is never written down like this. It works automatically in your mind. It takes approximately 10 years to master.
How to tell whether a meal is vegetarian or not.
This chart is to a vegetarian what a lifebelt is to a drowning person. Your survival depends on it.
Understandably, you may feel a bit uncomfortable with it in the beginning. For example, you might blame yourself for being "inconsistent" or "compromised."
Remember, when it comes to survival, consistency is
not what matters most. World is a complicated place. Sometimes we have to choose a viable solution, not a perfect one.
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Footnote 1
To non-vegetarian readers:
Dear non-vegetarians.
It might be hard to notice, but most vegetarians are good people. Please forgive us if we sometimes behave like fussy jerks whose sole life mission is to ruin your party.
Many vegetarians are vegetarians because they believe they're helping to save the world. They have all these reasonings like, "If half of the world's population turned vegetarian, we would save this many square kilometers of rainforests and this many animals." Of course, half of the world population is not going to turn vegetarian any time soon - a proof that vegetarians are naive and idealistic, but it's a nice goal they have, isn't it? Please, be patient with us.
Footnote 2
To orthodox vegan readers:
I give you my blessing - you're free to hate me.
