On my first day in Japan, I had a bowl of cold soba (buckwheat) noodles topped with eggplant, greens, nori, sesame, and tempura crumbs, along with a green smoothie from 7-Eleven. As a vegetarian, we requested the dish without the usual fish-based soba sauce.
I ate the noodles using chopsticks. While I can manage them, it’s still a bit challenging for me, so finishing the entire meal that way felt like a small achievement.
One evening, I had dinner with my ambassador and her friends at their shared apartment. They cooked nabe (hot pot) together, and at the same time, the TV was playing Chibi Maruko-chan, a show I love. Coincidentally, the episode also showed people eating nabe. A vegetarian version was prepared for me using kombu broth, tofu, mushrooms, and seasonal vegetables. We ate slowly, dipping the vegetables into different sauces. It was delicious, though a bit tricky to eat with chopsticks. I was told it was okay to use a fork, but I decided to use chopsticks for a change.
That evening, I also tried mochi (a sticky rice cake, sometimes added to hot pot dishes) and natto (fermented soybeans with a strong smell) for the first time, along with a tea labeled “African tea.” Everyone was very curious about my reaction to natto, especially because of its strong smell. Surprisingly, I couldn’t smell anything at all and didn’t find it as bad as I had expected. I had always heard it was very stinky, so I even wondered if my nose was blocked that day. They were shocked, and we all laughed about it. I’d love to try smelling it again.
I really enjoyed the evening with all the girls and talked about many different things. Before leaving, I thanked everyone, and one of the girls jokingly invited me to come back and eat natto again. I said “sure,” and we all laughed.
On my way back, I was given a Japanese pear (nashi) and some vegan protein bars. The nashi tasted sweeter than the pears we usually have in India, and I had it for breakfast the next day.
On another day, we visited a restaurant that served vegan ramen (Japanese noodle soup) and gyoza (Japanese-style dumplings). The ramen was so good that I craved it even months later. After returning to India, I even went to a restaurant in Delhi just to eat ramen again.
I also tried ume (plum) onigiri and explored some food stores on my own, asking staff about vegetarian options. Once, I bought what I thought was a vegetarian kimbap (Korean rice rolls), but later realized it contained a fish-based ingredient. It reminded me to be extra careful about ingredients.
In India, products and menus use a green dot symbol, regulated by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) , to indicate vegetarian products, so identifying vegetarian options is usually quite simple. This sign is commonly found on many products in India.
I also visited a vegan restaurant where I had rice with a bean-based curry. I’m a huge rice fan. If I don’t eat rice for a day, it feels like I haven’t eaten properly at all. It might have been the only time I had a rice meal in Japan.
The next article focuses on shrines and temples in Tokyo.