This story was produced by Grist and co-published with The Japan Times. All is quiet at 10:30 a.m. on a Thursday in Shibuya, Tokyo’s famous commercial district. In an alleyway just steps from one of the busiest train stations in the world, a short line of tourists huddles outside of a bar. Finally, half an hour later, the door cracks open and, greeted with a soft “irasshaimase,” or “welcome,” the parties shuffle in to sample one of the rarest dishes in Japan: faux-fish sushi. “Nowadays, there are many vegan ‘meat’ products,” said Kazue Maeda, one of the four founding employees of the restaurant, Vegan Sushi Tokyo. “But I’m Japanese. What I really used to love is sushi and salmon.” Her restaurant attempts to fill a relatively unclaimed niche in the local food scene. Even in Tokyo, where much of the country’s vegan population lives, plant-based versions of traditional Japanese food remain challenging to find — most vegan options are Western-inspired dishes like curry rice or vegan hamburg steak. Vegan Sushi Tokyo is open only for lunch: Although rave reviews keep pouring in from customers, the small business still doesn’t have a storefront of its own and rents out the interior of a bar by day. It serves 10-piece nigiri lunch sets, which include a plant-based Japanese-style “egg,” “shrimp” tempura and beads made out of seaweed that look nearly indistinguishable from salmon roe. Japan’s culinary culture may be rich and diverse, but it remains reliant on animal products, especially when dashi, a savory broth made of dried tuna flakes and kelp, is present in so many dishes. Maeda became a vegan six years ago, due to her growing concern over environmental and animal rights issues. It’s a familiar origin story for those who have come to defy the typical Japanese diet by giving up meat, fish and dairy. “In terms of the vegan movement, I think we’re maybe behind other countries. The number of vegans is very small,” Maeda said. “But there are more and more vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Tokyo, I think because of tourists — especially from countries with many vegetarian people.” Nigiri served at Vegan Sushi Tokyo. Although rave reviews keep pouring in from customers, the small business still doesn’t have a storefront of its own, and rents out the interior of a bar by day. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist Outside large cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, vegan options quickly vanish. In a culture that prizes convention and scrupulous attention to detail, individual accommodations — like vegan menu substitutions — are often frowned upon. And as in many other countries, vegan options are sometimes stigmatized as less nutritious. But recently, things have been changing. The anticipation of a tourism boom for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo pushed the Japanese government to encourage new vegan businesses and menu options in major cities. And in the years since, restaurants like Maeda’s have sprung up, offering novel adaptations of traditional dishes. Under pressure from Japan’s pledge to nearly halve its carbon emissions by 2030, the government has also begun collaborating with vegan activists and advocates and awarding grants to alternative protein startups. Though challenges remain, it’s gotten easier and easier to go vegan in Japan over the last decade. “Climate issues and animal issues are growing,” Maeda said. “For me, I can’t imagine going back to eating meat again.” Only for tourists? Convincing people to eat less meat is key to reaching international climate goals. Up to 20% of planet-warming greenhouse gases emitted annually come from animal agriculture alone — all the cows, pigs, lambs, chickens and other animals (not including fish) that people raise for meat, milk, eggs and the like. According to one study from the University of Oxford that looked at the diets of over 55,000 people, vegans — defined as those who eschew all animal products — create 75% less climate pollution through their food choices than those who eat a meat-heavy diet. For most of the last two millennia, the Japanese diet was a model of climate-friendly eating due to Buddhist and Shinto objections to meat and dairy consumption — although fish has long been a staple. Beginning in 675, meat-eating was banned by official imperial decree. Kazue Maeda, co-founder of Vegan Sushi Tokyo, serves customers at the restaurant, where the recommended lunch set includes a tray of faux-fish sushi. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist The ban set the stage for the flourishing of shōjin ryōri, a traditional cuisine that arrived in the sixth century along with Buddhism and aligns with the religion’s prohibition against killing animals. In the 13th century, the cuisine developed into a spiritual movement focused on simplicity and balance between one’s mind and body. A typical shōjin ryōri set meal is vegan, highlights seasonal produce and is designed around sets of five — five colors, five flavors and five cooking methods. While it can still commonly be found in the dining halls of Buddhist temples, modern chefs have taken shōjin ryōri into the mainstream, including in Michelin-starred restaurants, where they emphasize the concept’s focus on harmony with nature by using local ingredients and minimizing waste. It wasn’t until 1872 that Emperor Meiji lifted the meat-eating ban, seeking to usher in an era of westernization. Meat consumption grew quickly as domestic beef production boomed and animal products became a symbol of power and status. As reports spread that Emperor Meiji drank milk twice a day, dairy consumption became more popular, too. Today, Japan ranks 11th in beef consumption globally, and its per capita milk consumption is 68% higher than that of the average East Asian country. Japanese people buy eight times more meat than they did in the 1960s, and in 2007, families began eating it more than fish. But interest in plant-based foods appears to be growing. Japan’s market for plant-based foods tripled between 2015 and 2020, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries expects it to double again by 2030. These shifts have taken
