related to food availability

Hello there

I recently seen a video about Toyama in four days narrated by Raina Ong. I liked it very much. I am a Indian vegetarian and eat no meat/egg and fish. I wish to know whether vegetarian food is available during the journey.

Your prompt reply would be appreciated.

Check HappyCow, and if all else fails there�fs always stuff to find at convenience stores.

There are definitely vegetarian options around, but Japanese cuisine as such is not vegetarian at all. In most typical Japanese dishes there is either some meat or some fish product (like seasoning or fish paste...).

The app the PP proposed seems to be a good way how to find appropriate restaurants.

Note that in ryokans if you book it with a meal I would imagine it to be very difficult to get vegetarian meal equivalent to the kaiseki ryori that they offer the other guests.

A stay in a Buddhist monastery might be an alternative but even there i would check upon reservation if the dinner / breakfast is vegetarian.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Honestly, I think it will be hard. Toyama city has options, but you would need to contact each place you are considering staying in Ainokura, Kurobe Gorge and Murodo. I seriously doubt you will get lucky at Murodo just because there are so few dining/lodging options as is. When I went to Zao in '09 I brought vegan cup noodles from home to eat there, because I knew my options were just going to be limited. (Though now you can buy them at Tokyo Station at T's) Some places in Japan are super easy to be vegetarian or vegan (Tokyo) and some are just much much harder.

Some ryokan will try to work with people with dietary restrictions. Since I'm not fluent in Japanese, you can never be 100% sure unless you are fluent though. In my personal experience, despite getting more foreigners many places in Hakone specifically say they won't work with dietary restrictions while a lot of places in Nagano-ken seem willing to at least try. I've debated adding the place I stayed outside Kamikochi to Happy Cow because they seemed to get what vegetarian was... (they asked about fish broth) but I can't be 100% sure they followed through when I said it was not OK. I do know there was no actual meat in my food.

I've personally not had good experiences staying overnight at temples. Many use fish/fish stock. You really need to contact places ahead of time and just ask. It's like tofu restaurants in Kyoto. There are lots of tofu restaurants in Kyoto, but many use fish broth and are not vegetarian/vegan.

Good luck!