Vegan Travel Guide to Japan
Welcome to Japan!
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| Matsumoto Castle is one of Japan's top medieval castles. |
With its unique and fascinating history, its stunning natural landscapes contrasted with futuristic cities, and its polite, honest, hard-working people, Japan offers incredible travel opportunities. Explore Tokyo, the world's largest metropolis, wander the ancient alleyways of Kyoto (shown above) and be a guest in a Buddhist temple high in the mountains. While there, dine on the exquisite shojin ryori (vegan) cuisine, which Japanese monks have developed over several centuries.
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| Shojin-ryori (Buddhist Cuisine) at Eko-in Temple, Koyasan. For many foreign tourists, shukubo (temple lodging) is a highlight of their travels in Japan, but only a few temples offer vegan meals. |
Besides temples, Japan also has many of Asia's finest vegan restaurants. With a renewed public interest in the macrobiotic diet (a plant-based model of healthy eating developed by a Japanese doctor a century ago), and a burgeoning vegan and animal rights movement, Japan is quickly emerging as a leader in Asia's rapidly growing vegan scene. But with its current tourism explosion and the crowds and other problems this is causing, combined with the fact that fish stock is used in most meals outside of vegetarian restaurants, planning is essential for vegans to travel and eat well in Japan. And this guidebook is here to help with that.
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| famous "floating" torii (ceremonial gate) at Miyajima Island, Hiroshima |
Veg Travel Guides combine the best of online research, vegetarian restaurant databases, and traditional travel guidebooks all in one up-to-date resource. Save hours of time by having your research and planning done for you. Itineraries are compiled especially to help vegan travellers to pack as much sightseeing and delicious vegan food into each day's travel, and to make it even easier to support deserving vegan businesses while on holiday.
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| Noodle Stand Three P's in Matsumoto is fully vegan and is within walking distance of Matsumoto Castle (shown above). |
The Japan Travel Guide has been fully updated in March 2026 for the cherry blossom season.
No Need for a Kindle! Read it On All Your Devices.
After purchase, you can download the guidebook on up to six devices. For example, you may like to read the guidebook on your tablet / iPad, keep another copy on your phone to use for directions (one click brings up directions from your location in Google Maps) or to show the Japanese symbols to passersby or service staff when you need help. It can also be read on traditional Kindles (e-book readers), but links to external websites and apps (such as directions in Google Maps) won't open on one.
Why Is It Only Available on Kindle?
I often receive requests for a printed version or a pdf. Unfortunately, this information changes too quickly to make printing copies worthwhile. With so many devices, each with their own specifications (particularly screen size and resolution), and being such a large file (over a thousand pages, and a few hundred megabytes of data), a PDF isn't practical for most devices, and the Kindle app offers a better user experience than I can offer through any other platform. I welcome suggestions for alternative platforms.
Areas Covered
The Veg Travel Guide covers most popular destinations for first-time visitors to Japan. If you saw everything in this travel guide it would probably take over a month, but most tourists don't go everywhere, and some attractions are seasonal.
Tokyo
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| View from the Imperial Palace, looking towards Tokyo Station |
This is divided up into four main itineraries (one day each) and also Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, as well as the island of Odaiba.
Kansai
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| Sannenzaka Street, HIgashiyama, Kyoto |
The traditional heart of Japan, and the vegan capital of the nation, this region includes the historic capitals of Kyoto and Nara, the thriving and friendly metropolis of Osaka, and Mount Yoshino, which is covered in cherry blossoms in spring, and my personal favourite Mount Koyasan, which has been a centre of Buddhism (thus vegetarianism) for over a millenium.
Around Tokyo
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| FujiQ Highlands Theme Park is free to enter (rides cost extra), and the food court has vegan options. |
These day trips or overnight excursions include Japan s other two historic capitals (the beachside city of Kamakura, and Nikko, which is deep in the mountains), Yokohama, and the former wealthy warehouse district of Kawagoe, which once served Edo (old Tokyo). This outing also combines well with the Alishan Organic Centre, a great vegetarian cafe in the inaka (countryside) with a swimmable river next door. It also includes climbing Mount Fuji and and nearby FujiQ Highlands theme park, and the resort town of Hakone, which is famous for its variety of novel public transport, some of which (on the right day) offers spectacular views over the sacred mountain.
Nagano
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| The snow monkeys are adorable, and they choose to interact with tourists on their own terms. |
If you visit in winter and love snow, you'll want to head to Nagano. I particularly recommend Hakuba, which has two vegetarian cafes right on the slopes. It also covers the historic and vegan-friendly castle city of Matsumoto, which has a great vegan restaurant. It also covers the Snow Monkeys in Jigokudani, which I consider ethical to visit because (unlike at other monkey parks, such as the famous one in Kyoto) the monkeys aren't coerced into participating and they don't become dependent on humans for food.
Hokkaido
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| Although there's not a lot to see or do there, Sapporo has been a vegan hotspot for many years, and is a great place to relax for a day or two. |
This edition covers the capital city Sapporo, which is one Japan's most vegan-friendly small cities, the Australian ski hub of Niseko, and also the winter resort towns of Asahikawa and Furano, which has a vegan cafe and guesthouse.
Hiroshima
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| Hiroshima Peace Park, with the Atomic Bomb Dome in the background |
Visiting the site of the world's first atomic bombing is a sobering experience, but the Peace Park is beautifully done and is considered a must-visit for many first-time travellers to Japan. Unfortunately, Hiroshima Castle has recently closed (in March 2026), although its grounds remain open and worth visiting. It also covers the nearby island of Miyajima, which is most famous for its "floating" torii (ceremonial gate), although I recommend the island more for its quieter mountain and its Buddhist history.
Kanazawa
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| As the second-largest city to be spared Allied firebombing during WW2 (after Kyoto), Kanazawa retains some of its traditional teahouses, especially here in the Higashichaya District. |
Often called the "Kyoto of the East", Kanazawa is the newest addition to this guidebook. For some tourists, I recommend it as an alternative to Kyoto, which is becoming spoiled by overtourism. If visiting both cities, the Hokuriku Arch (rail) Pass makes it a convenient and affordable stop between Tokyo and Kyoto, especially since the first vegan restaurant opened in the central city in late 2025.
Kagoshima
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| Sakurajima |
This sleepy city at the bottom of Honshu (the Japanese mainland) is famous for its active volcano, which regularly covers the city in ash. But if history had taken a slightly different turn during the Meiji Restoration (the opening of Japan to the West in the late nineteenth century) it could have become the capital of Japan.
Although it's not being offered at the time of update and is likely to be rolled out to a limited range of nationalities first, Kagoshima may soon offer a free one-way ticket from Fukuoka to foreign tourists who spend at least a night in the city.
Areas Not Covered
Every city and town in Japan has something interesting to see but I can't include them all. Here's are popular tourist regions which are not covered (yet).
This first edition does not cover Nagasaki, because it's very vegan-unfriendly, and it's more difficult and expensive to get to than Hiroshima, so most tourists (especially vegans and vegetarians) learn about the tragic history of the atomic bombings there instead. It does not cover Kumamoto in Kyushu, because its castle (and main attraction) was badly damaged by an earthquake in 2016 and is closed indefinitely. It also doesn't cover the island chain of Okinawa, which is popular for its beaches in summer and also for its history as the Ryukyu Kingdom, although unfortunately Shuri Castle, its most iconic structure, burned down in 2019 and is expected to take many years to rebuild.
Maps
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| Hakone is a popular overnight trip from Tokyo, but I recommend it as a day trip as there is only one small vegan cafe. |
Trustworthy Research
This guidebook is the product of a year's full-time work, including several dedicated research trips to Japan, where I have previously lived for over five years. I always pay for my own meals and lodging and never accept any form of incentives in exchange for inclusion in my guidebooks. All recommendations and reviews are based on my personal experience as a customer. This guidebook contains no advertisements in any form.
I personally took all the photographs in this guidebook and on this website.
What About Food and Restaurants?
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| Like many of Japan's best vegan restaurants, Little Heaven (Kyoto) needs to be reserved at least three days in advance. But many tourists don't plan far enough ahead to get to any of them. |
As a vegan travel guide, of course it contains food and restaurant recommendations. It does not, however, focus on food and restaurants more than any other travel guide. I generally recommend the most significant restaurants for each area, such as ones that are especially unique, good value, need to be reserved well in advance, or are convenient places to stock up on take-out items, which can be a life saver on day trips away from major cities.
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| These vegan oyaki (traditional vegetable buns) from Nagano Station are great for take-outs. |
But I still expect that the reader will, many times, take out their phone and find somewhere on HappyCow - or, better, Mamesama, the new Japan-specific vegan app (Android, iOS). There is also a section on food at convenience stores, supermarkets, and the ubiquitous fast-food chains, most famously Coco Ichibanya. But this guidebook can't possibly compete with community-driven food guides, and nor is it intended to. It's to help a first-time vegan traveller to Japan plan their whole trip.
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| Curries from the Coco Ichibanya restaurant chain can be real life saver in small cities, especially late at night. But be sure to order the 'vege curry sauce' - not the "vegetable curry", which contains meat. At the time of update (April 2026) the soy meat patty is currently not offered, but it has been coming and going for years. |
In my experience of helping hundreds of travellers to Japan (and Taiwan) over almost two decades, most people's experiences are not spoiled by lack of food, at least after doing a little preparation (which this book can help with). But many vegans don't even know about best cities for vegans, don't stay at the best places (considering, for example, that in some cities such as Kyoto most restaurants close early, while in nearby Osaka they are open much later), and most don't do enough research into practical information, such as how the trains work, which rail passes are best value for them, or onsen (hot spring bath) etiquette.
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| Japan has a wide variety of accommodation, including ryokans (traditional lodging, shown above), minshuku (traditional guesthouses), businesses hotels, hostels, pensions (countryside inns), hostels, and the infamous capsule hotels. |
This guidebook also contains a chapter on the culture, politics and history of Japan, all written for vegans and from a vegan perspective. My most recent addition is a small section of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709), the famous "Dog Shogun" who as the nation's ruler set up shelters for tens of thousands of stray dogs in Edo (present-day Tokyo) and implemented other animal rights, social, and environmental policies which were centuries ahead of their time.
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| Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the famous "Dog Shogun" is most famous for how well he handed the 47 ronin (lordless samurai), whose graves can be visited at Sengakuji Temple. |
If you're just looking for information on food, you can probably find everything you need at HappyCow and especially isitveganjapan.com. But if instead you'd like information on everything you need to make the most of your first trip to Japan as a vegan, food and otherwise, I hope my guidebook can be of use to you!