Today's menu

Rather recently, I did a thing where I stopped eating meat. This is the second time I have done this in my life (unless you count the time I declared becoming a vegetarian at a family gathering and then promptly stuffed my face with salami as a tween). Round two is a little different to the first time though, because, as I am sure you know by now, I'm living in Japan.

I tried to find a picture of me stuffing my face with some sort of meat product. This is the closest I could get; me taking a picture of a bean burger at burger liquor in Wellington a few years back. I have always leant towards the meat-free options.

So, why does my dietary change in the context of Japan warrant its own blog post? Many, many reasons my sweet fren. And a lot to do with food culture. It's fascinating! Who knew that conceptions of food and health would be different in a country that is not where I am from (shock horror). Firstly, the cultural conception of a well-rounded diet in Japan much more strongly holds on to the idea of meat being a component. Secondly, related to this, eating establishments such as cafes and restaurants that are set up to accommodate those who chose to not consume meat are, at first glance, very few. Basically, a lot of Japanese people think I'm weird for not eating meat, and I've gone and made my life harder when it comes to eating out in Japan, which is vastly different to my experience in New Zealand, where vegetarianism is becoming a lot more common and widely accepted.

For the first course, I want to touch on the Japanese cultural concept of a well-rounded diet. School lunch, or kyushoku, is a thing here from elementary to junior high. It's all about educating kids about what a nutritious diet looks like. Which is totally great, but that does include meat as a constant component (sometimes even whale meat, delicious). The style of the Japanese education system is a lot more about top-down information absorption by the students. Basically, what the schools say, and what teachers say, is true and correct and is not to be challenged. Therefore, with the provision of school lunches, and meat as a consistent component, meat as part of a well-balanced becomes part of the unquestioned knowledge taught to children at state school. From that, meat as part of a well-rounded diet becomes a deeply routed integral part of the cultural narrative of what is healthy, good and delicious. Which, is where Japanese people find it extremely strange and weird that I just don't eat meat anymore. I have been asked a fair few times what types of meat I can and cannot eat. Nah, I can't eat chicken but I'll go hard on the pork, that's what a vegetarian is.

Kyushoku monthly menu on the left, with the weekly detailed description that they read out in class on the right. 

Second course is all about the preparation. It's interesting, because meat in the style as we would know it in New Zealand is fairly uncommon. I know a fair few foreigners here who order from 'the meat guy', which is an online store that sells western style meats such as steaks, sausages, and even meat pies, so that expats can get their familiar meat fix. Because in Japan it's tiny little nibbly bits. Meat skewers, thinly sliced meat dipped in broth, very expensive delicately prepared wagyu steaks. It's just, smaller, and more expensive. No chonky steaks or sausages here. So in Japanese food culture, meat is part of a healthy diet, but also not a main part. It's very different to how I have grown up with eating meat, which is probably why I could last as I did doing the whole meat thing again in Japan. Though I do find it strange that an acceptable answer to the question 'what's your favourite food' is just 'meat' here. To me, favourite foods generally are either a) specific or b) a treat food. But that's it, my conception of meat is that it's big and just normal, whereas here yes, it is normal, but it's also special in its own way. Still find it weird though, but maybe that's more because I would never ever say 'meat' as an answer to 'what's your favourite food?' (it's mushroom pizza or hummus if you're interested. Oh and caramel, I'm a slut for caramel).

For our third course, we will be having fish. Fish here is the real sneaky issue. If anything, I am actually an aspirational vegetarian who will, very easily, with little guilt, chomp down on a fish or two. But honestly, I just can't avoid it. I say that Japan is obsessed with meat, but their staple is fish. You can usually identify and remove (or just not order) any elements of meat from a dish here, but dashi (a broth made from smoked fish and seaweed) is an integral part of Japanese cuisine, and is basically in everything. I've even heard of stories of how fish are practically considered to be vegetables in Japan, due to loopholes in Buddhist diet beliefs when it was first spreading across Japan. Which, like, is fine. I'd like to live a fish-free life so I don't contribute to overfishing, but, there's not the same emotional component of animal suffering with fish for me, so I'm OK with eating a bit of fish when out and about for now. I think that's where a lot of the weight behind the conception of how difficult it is to be a vegetarian in Japan comes from. Sneaky fish. But if you're willing for your tastebuds to take a quick fishy trip every now and again, doing the whole meat free thing is very easy in Japan, you do just end up having to avoid many specific types of Japanese cuisine.

For our fourth course, let's have a giant dripping bowl of my feelings (because this blog is just personal essays really). It's no lie that now I feel like a bit of a burden when it comes to hanging out with friends and food gets involved. I do have to make 'special requests', such as going to a specific style of restaurant that I know there will be food I can eat, limiting the places we can go. Yeah, no yakiniku or ramen for me... But there are some hidden gems where I can gorge to my hearts content. Kashi-katsu or tempura for instance, I can just order all veges no problem. And sometimes, if I know the sauce in a dish is (most likely) not meat based, I am fine with picking out the meat and donating it to a fellow diner. Once, I got yakisoba at a festival, stating I'd give my meat to someone I was with, but there was no meat. Which usually is a problem, but to me it was just what I wanted. My thought process is that, if people want to really go to some meaty place, they can go another time. And if they're a dick to me about not being able to eat meat, they're rude anyway and not worth my time. My happiness is more important than someone's food convenience.

No more ramen, at least not in Japan. I do miss it, but I have had some good vegetarian versions in Tokyo and Kyoto. 

And an aperitif. But you may be wondering why? Why why whyyyy? Being a vegetarian is important to me turns out, even though I was only vegetarian for 8 months in NZ. I gave up being a vegetarian coming here, as I expected that exploring Japanese cuisine and being vegetarian were somewhat the antithesis of each other. But I just couldn't eat meat anymore. The convenience of being able to eat anywhere just did not make up for how it made my body feel slow and icky, and the fact that I was pushing down all my feelings about eating meat wasn't great for my mental health. I could put up with eating meat, but in the end, my body thinks animals are friends, not food (except fish, fuck fish). Sure, it meant quitting school lunch, but as a side note, now I have lived a while without, I have realised how gross it made me feel and how packed full of salt it is; the other day I smelt the kyushoku curry rice and it gave me flashbacks to the cramps I'd get from eating it. There is also the aforementioned exclusion from many foods and experiences. But it's fine, there's actually a fair few veg options out there in Japan, you just have to search (and turn a blind eye to any hidden fish products).

Cramp-inducing curry and rice kyushoku. Shudder. 

Food is so important. It's such a sensitive topic, and can be extremely personal and an integral part of our identity. In part it's because it's about our culture, where we're from, how we grew up. It's also because, food is what fuels us. We put it inside our bodies, so we get pretty intimate with it.  Being a vegetarian is something very important to my identity, and returning to it I guess is an example of how, in this place where I feel I have lost my sense of self to an extent, I can take back part of my identity and control over myself and my existence. It's living part of my culture out in Japan. In that sense, it's not making my life more difficult. Being a vegetarian makes my life easier. Being a vegetarian makes my life happier. 

いただきます - bon appetit.