info for vegetarians
 
 
   
 
 
   
| October, 2000 |
Tokyo Vegetarian-friendly
Restaurant Guide
Diary - Living in Tokyo
as a Semi-Vegan
Recommended Readings
Written in Japanese
FAQ
Articles about Vegetarianism
written by Hiroko Kato
Online Vegetarian/Vegan Handouts
Shopping Guide
Good News & Good News
Links for Vegetarians
 
2000
August: Healthy vegan snack, vegan peach cobbler, stray cats, and so on.
September: Vegan pizza and brownie as well as experiences at several vegan restaurants.
October: New soymilk product and vegan ramen noodle, and so on.
November: Stories about the meeting with Japan Vegetarian Society chairpersons, vegan wedding meal, and experiences in Kyoto and Vietnam.
December: Attended Japan Vegetarian Society's meeting, delicious vegetarian food in YOKOHAMA China town, wasting time and money on staling foods, and trip to Penang.
2001
January: Experimenting some vegan breakfast recipes, receiving an e-mal from the reader, pondering bug's life, and so on
February: Tried a macrobiotic restaurant in Tokyo, and the trip to Laos.
March: Struggling to get a vegan flihgt meals at Malaysian Airline.
April: Having vegan wedding plates again, business trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, and busy days.
May: Nayonnaise discovery and some food disasters.
June: Life is going on.
2002
February: Attended a meeting on refugee issues in Japan held by Amnesty International Japan
March: Fresh soy milk and fasionable fake leather sneakers, etc.
April A conversation with my husband over a TV show and "Meatarians vs. vegetarians."
May A trip to the U.S. for research. Had an opportunity to attend a fantastic vegan wedding of my friend's.
July A thought on eating whale meat.


October 6, 2000

In Japan, convenience stores are much more popular than in US. You'll see a couple of various chains even in one block. Because of harsh competition, Japanese convenience stores are so severe to select the items they sell.

Nevertheless soymilk has been survived this competition, supported by health conscious consumers. You expect, however, only plain type, one brand. One day, I had found banana taste soymilk at one of convenience stores in my neighborhood, but a week later I couldn't see that. I guess I was the only one who bought that product.

Two weeks ago, I found another new soymilk, Earl Grey taste, at next door convenience store. I bought one and really liked that. Yesterday, I checked the shelf, hoping they still keep Earl Grey soymilk, and this time could see it was there. Wonderful! Though I also miss banana soymilk that tasted good as Earl Grey.

October 10, 2000
Father of my friend's husband died of cancer one month ago. On the phone, she complained to me that her husband's sister who is enthusiastic about folklore medicine strongly suggested not to take any food derived from animals because they were harmful to the disease. Following his favorite daughter's advice, the patient didn't take meat, fish, eggs, and dairy but a lot of soymilk after every meals mainly consistent of carbohydrates like watery rice porridge. He became weak because of the luck of essential nutrition and dead suddenly. In Japan, unfortunately, that kind of unscientific approach to vegetarian/vegan diet is quite influential and people easily believe the misunderstandings without gathering reliable information. Too sad. I wish only if he could have advised a dietitian who's familiar with vegan diet!

October 11, 2000
Usually people get embarrassed more or less when I tell them I am a vegetarian. The guy I met today, however, was different. He said, "Oh, vegetarian! I agree with you that you don't want to eat meat." Then he continued: "In Vietnam, I saw pigs were eating feces!" Well, I should mention that he ate pork at the dinner table without showing any concerns.

October 19, 2000
Great news! I found vegan ramen noodle in the small health food store near by my place. It looked that a macrobiotic company made the products. With the sheer joy, I bought two, soy sauce and miso flavor. The soup was fine but the noodle needed something but I can say it was okay enough. As a ramen noodle lover, I am so satisfied that I finally get vegan ramen noodle in Japan. The problem is it costs, 160 yen, as same as $1.8, per a package. Probably I should ask Nisshin to sell their Oriental brand also in Japan, even if it's more "junky" than macrobiotic vegan ramen!

October 25, 2000
Made Hummus and Guacamole. These are my favorite vegan foods I learned in US. Good thing is they are really nutritious too. Hummus is fine here because I can make sandwich with it. Sometimes I foam it round and fry in olive oil. But Guacamole has some problem. I may be able to make Tomato-Guacamole sandwich but now is not the season of the vegetable. I wish if I could get Tacos much easier so that I never waste my Guacamole!

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Copyright (C) 2002 Hiroko Kato, Tomoko Kinukawa(designer).All rights reserved.