Sushi Vegan Enlivens Japan's Culinary Trend

JAKARTA - For foreign tourists, tastingfolis is a mandatory culinary experience when visiting Japan. But for those who are vegan or vegetarian, menu choices are often limited. Now a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo is here to provide a solution, namely Chili vegan which seems to be a culinary trend in Sakura Country.

The Tokyo Vegan Sushi restaurant presents a set of 10 pieces of asing vegangan with unique variations. There is nigiri with shiitake mushrooms toppings, vegan meat, toerate gunkan with plant-based 'tuna-mayo' equipped with a mimiclized 'salur eggs' from natural ingredients.

Shu Kudo (26), founder of Vegan Sushi Tokyo, said this idea was born from anxiety when he saw that foreign tourists had difficulty enjoying karaoke.

"Many guests say they want to eaterates, but usually they can only message kappamaki (cumulent rice). From there I realized there had to be other options," said Kudo, quoted from the Kyodo News page.

According to Kudo, this restaurant does not want to imitate traditionalfocus, but offers a new experience.

"We are not pursuing the same taste. In fact, there is a unique taste that can only be created from vegan materials," he explained.

Some creations look so similar to the original version. For example, vegan shrimp tempurae whose tail is made from carrots.

"Sometimes visitors doubt whether the tail can be eaten. I have to explain that it is safe to eat because the ingredients are vegetables," said Kudo with a laugh.

Apart fromfocus, this restaurant also offers typical Japanese desserts such as gluten-free vegan dougaki with sweet red beans, which are rare in Japan.

Joachim (31) and Julia Wagner (30), a couple from Germany who are on their honeymoon, said they were happy to find this restaurant through the HappyCow application.

"In Germany, vegetarians clearly mean not eating fish or meat. But in Japan, fish are often not considered meat," said Joachim.

Julia added that the vegan snack experience in Japan feels more special.

"At home we've also triedausome vegans, but eating directly in Tokyo is certainly different in taste," he said.

The popularity of vegan food in Japan is increasing, especially after Tokyo is on the list of HappyCow's 2025 vegan friendly cities in 12th position.

Earlier this year, the Tokyo Sushi Vegan teamed up with Toyama Prefecture to make a vegetable snack recipe made locally, in order to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

"This is indeed a gradual process, but we want to spread awareness that vegan food can be more accessible," said Kudo.

Although currently Vegan Sushi Tokyo only operates during the day by renting a small bar room in Shibuya, Kudo has big ambitions. Many foreign customers have encouraged him to open branches abroad.

"Investors still often see the vegan market as something small and difficult to understand. But we believe the need is real, and we want to answer it." said Kudo.