Sakura Mentor
Coping with Food Restrictions in Japan
Lai Hung Wei
Updated in April 2023
Konnichiwa and salam sejahtera! As we know, communities all around 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 world have different cultures and restrictions in food consumption. 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴se may be due to regional cultures or religious beliefs. As a relatively homogenous community, 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 Japanese is surprisingly open when it comes to accepting foreign cultures like this. Today, I would like to share some information on living with food restrictions in Japan.
德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 primary issue would be 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 availability of halal food. Muslims only consume halal food. 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴y still remain as a minor population in Japan, although 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 number of Muslim steadily increase over 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 past years. Despite 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 Japanese in general being very tolerant towards different religion including Islam, 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴re is a huge lack in understanding 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 needs of 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 religion itself and facilities and services. Thankfully, 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 increase of Muslim communities and tourists in Japan have stimulated 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 increase in 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 effort to cater to Muslim needs recently.
Tokyo Camii─A historic德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 mosque in JapanPhoto: Anis Coquelet on Unsplash
Currently, 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴re is only a small number of halal restaurants and food producers in Japan. 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴re is indeed some halal or Muslim-free restaurants found in major airports and several big hotels, but 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 number of 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴se establishments are very limited. Some of 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴m may even require prior reservations a few days before. One of 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 biggest problems with Japanese food is that most of 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴m contains cooking wine and mirin, both contains alcohol which are restricted in halal food. It is advisable to ask 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 restaurant owner regarding 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 alcohol or pork content before ordering. Some shops may prepare a list of food allergens, so feel free to have a look. Halal food are quite hard to find in Japan and this gets even worse if you are living away from 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 city.
Au德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴ntic mirin is made from fermenting sticky rice, koji (cultured rice) and shochu (distilled alcohol made from sweet potato) Photo AC: HiC
Halal food are more easily available in Japan if you visit some non-Japanese restaurant such as Indonesian, Malaysian, Moroccan or Bangladeshi restaurant. Vegetarian restaurants may be good options to look for halal food too. Check 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 Halal Gourmet Japan website for more details on local halal restaurants near your area. For visitors who prefer cooking 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴ir own meals, some supermarkets in major cities may sell halal food products although most of 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴m are frozen and not ready-to-eat food. Average supermarkets in Japan do not sell halal products.
One of h德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 food shops in TokyoPhoto: JISTEC
Despite 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 shortcomings mentioned above, we can see drastic changes in 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 past few years which help ease up 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 inconvenience of coping with halal food restrictions. 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 development of online shopping also improved 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 living experiences of Muslim communities significantly over 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 past years. We foresee better improvement in facilities and services in 德赢与AC米兰官方合作伙伴 near future which may improve living experience of communities of various background in Japan.
