(A)Stray in Shiga

… the journal of a South African vegan in Japan

I haven’t blogged about the hellholes called “pet shops” in Japan, or the dearth of fur in the department stores here, and I’m not going to today, but they do form part of this post’s backdrop. The state of animal welfare is dismal in Japan, just like in many other countries – South Africa included. But some things are really, really dismal. Like the stray cat population, for instance.

Pick a park, any park, poke around in the bushes a little, and you’re bound to find a full-on feral cat colony. Sometimes you won’t even need to look – the cats will caterwaul and come find you, in the hopes of scraps of food. The number of cats that have been abandoned over the years, and bred out in parks, gutters and other areas around cities, is heartbreaking. There are a couple of excellent NPOs working for these kitties; but they’ve really got their work cut out for them.

A couple of weeks ago, I went exploring in nearby Shiga Prefecture. I picked one of the lesser-known stations on the train line that goes around Lake Biwako (known for its beaches, floating temple and rowing song), and after disembarking, bushwhacked my way down to the shore. En route I came across a pack of skinny cats, parked under some cars. Their leader padded over and meowed pitifully. He let me pat him – the first cat that I’ve been able to pat in Osaka – and sent me to the nearby convenience store, for food. Nothing kitty-friendly was vegan too, but I bought a few things and went back to feed the cats – they nearly ripped the plastic carry bag to shreds in their desperation! I’d never seen anything like it. It was really awful. I considered stuffing a few into my slingbag, but decided against it – instead I contacted one of the cat NPOs and I’ll be going back on a trap-neuter-release mission soon. Hopefully, I’ll also be able to organise a regular feeder for the cats.

That was just one instance of the feral and stray cat colonies in Japan. There are hundreds more – and yet the hellhole kitten mills just keep turning out more and more pets. I won’t write about the recent occasion when we misguidedly attempted to catnap a stray at a local station … or how it led to my sidekick receiving antibiotics and tetanus shots … but there are times when it’s tough being an animal lover, wherever you are in the world.

This post ends on that note, but with a somewhat lighter postscript:

Pumpkin-flavoured soya milk: This flavour, sometimes called ‘gourd’ here, is difficult to identify at the supaa. It’s difficult to identify what the taste is when you’re drinking it, too – but once you translate the box, it makes absolute sense! It’s a rather tasty flavour; much nicer than the dairy milk, grain and peach flavours I’ve tried – but not as nice as the melon, grape or adzuki bean. Only in Japan.

Grow yer own!

Time to Grow Your Own (GIY) …

… the journal of a South African vegan in Japan, by Carey Finn

26 October 2009

Anyone who’s ever tasted soya beans fresh from their garden, or chowed down on home grown tomatoes and basil will know there’s just no comparison to vegetables plucked from the supermarket shelf, even if they’re certified organic. Having attempted a very small-scale veggie patch in South Africa, I was excited to carry on my foray (or should I say, forage) into natural farming in Japan.

Finding organic soil proved near-impossible. We asked around, in English and Japanese, to no avail. It was either sift through the bags of soil at the nurseries to find a brand with the least fertilisers and other added chemicals, or dig up the local park. The latter posed 2 problems: 1, the risk of getting caught and having to deal with authorities in extremely limited Japanese; and 2, the fact that the soil is compact and very clay-like. We had already acquired 4 pots of this clay-like soil from a construction site down the road (another story altogether). So we opted for the nursery soil. Organic soil is just not one of the conveniences in super-convenient Osaka.

Then we went in search of seeds. We found some spinach and peas at the 100-Yen store … nowhere near organic, but we thought we’d give them a try. They sprouted and have grown up quite nicely, without any fertilisers or anything. They aren’t incredibly strong plants, but they seem to be tasty, as they attracted some small green caterpillars, which somehow scaled the wall of the block of flats to our balcony … again, again and again …

We squeezed some tomato seeds from organic tomatoes we bought, into a pot of soil, and they sprouted beautifully. The first flowers appeared 2 days ago so the fruit shouldn’t be far behind. Instead of buying more questionable, chemically-treated seeds, we opted to use the seeds from the organic veggies we get once a week – through a mail-order company called Warabe-Mura. All the produce comes from small organic farms in nearby Gifu Prefecture. It’s great – you can smell the earth on the veggies! So now we have some unidentifiable squash (called gourd, over here) growing too.

Add some flowers, a rescued hibiscus tree and some organic lavender to the mix and our balcony garden is coming along nicely. Oh, not to mention a cotton tree … never mind vegan veggie gardening –it’s time to take this to the next level – my sidekick has threatened to start weaving her own clothes.

Now just to get a fruit tree or two installed downstairs, near the bike sheds. I’ve already ranted about the exorbitant price of fruit in Japan – but did I mention some of it tastes like it’s sweetened? That’s right. Sugar added. Or at least, it tastes that way. In his book, The One-Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka mentioned the injecting of additives into oranges during processing. Some say it’s colourants, and I think maybe it’s a type of sweetener too.

Seriously. There’s naturally sweet, straight off a tree, and then there’s “sets-your-teeth-on-edge and tastes-like-a-super-processed-fake-orange-juice-from the supermarket, after being shipped thousands of kilometres”, sweet. Who knows – maybe the (did I mention, non-organic) oranges really are just that sweet. But it got me thinking.

Next time: Vegans meet stray cats in Shiga, plus pumpkin-flavoured soya milk. And maybe a new restaurant too.

Good times in Kyoto and Kobe

7 October 2009

I experienced my first vegetarian festival last weekend, and it was, in a word, delicious. On Saturday evening we headed to a pre-festival vegan buffet in Kyoto central. The Kyoto Vegetarian Festival is an annual event, but the vegan buffet made its debut this year. Judging by the good attendance, food and times had by all, I’m sure it will happen next year too.

There were a handful of gaijin (foreigners), and a lot of Japanese folk of all ages at the buffet. There were even some cute vegan kids running around, munching away and giggling under the tablecloths. The dinner was about exchanging stories, but the big veg fest itself was about showing people how easy it is to be vegetarian or vegan, and why it’s so important that we go flesh-free. We all had to say a few lines on why we were vegan – I could only manage English, but I mentioned environmental, animal and, oft-forgotten, human rights reasons.

On Sunday, after a night spent on a hard tatami mat floor, trying to remain undetected by spider mites (the price one pays for cheap accommodation), we headed to the veggie festival, which was held at Okazaki Park, near the famous Heian Shrine. There were about 100 stalls and hundreds and hundreds of people. We pigged out on organic vegan quiche, cake, waffles, falafels … curdled soya milk … then got some souvenirs. The curdled soya milk, while not particularly favoured by me, is a favourite here. Mmm, tasty.

There were some organizations which support organic community farming, handing out stuff in Japanese, and some organisations against fur, animal testing, and the like. I got a bright yellow no-fur t-shirt, which I will be wearing to a protest in November.

Kyoto, it seems, is a great place for vegetarians. Nearby Kobe, which also begins with a K (I really needed a way to introduce Kobe, ok) has some good points of its own. One is that it is where Arjuna was set (an anime about a girl who has to save the earth); the other is that it is home to Modern Ark Farm Café. It is not a farm at all, but they serve delicious vegan and veggie meals (including cake and that tasty wheat meat) – all organic as far as I can tell.

Vegan and organic seem to go together in Japan, which is great. Organic fruit, however, is a rarity. I found my first organic apple at a natural foods store in Kobe, and it cost about R40. Ouch. It was big and tasty though. Organic bananas imported from Mexico are easy to find, but I have to question how fair the trade is …

Next episode: Balcony gardens, artificially sweetened oranges, and more.

Of monks, wheat meat and tofu cheesecake

27 September 2009

There are 2 precious (metal) weeks in the Japanese working calendar, when businesses close and the trains get busier than usual, as people take holidays around the country. The first is Golden Week, a week of public holidays in July; the second is Silver Week, a week in September, where 3 of the days are public holidays, and the remaining 2 might as well be.

I just missed Golden Week; being, at that point, in South Africa, and running around like mad to get ready for my move East. Silver Week, however, I was lucky enough to be here for. I marked it in my diary as soon as I touched down in Tokyo. Partner and 2 friends in tow, I headed to the north of the neighbouring prefecture of Wakayama (the south part of which is where the annual dolphin slaughter happens, fyi), to a mountainous village known as Koya-San.

This is seen as the spiritual headquarters of Esoteric, or Shingon Buddhism, in Japan, and the village is full of temples. We were lucky enough to stay at one, where we enjoyed delicious vegan tofu dishes, including a sesame dofu dish, called goma dofu – which is the specialty of the area. You can eat it with wasabi and soya sauce, or as a dessert with maple syrup and cinnamon. I am not ashamed to admit that I have become addicted to the latter.

Shojin ryouri, being the traditional Buddhist food of Japan, is generally vegan, and always delicious. It was one of the best parts of our stay at Koya-San; along with the storytelling of the 89-year-old mother of the head priest at the temple … she started studying English 70 years ago!

In the village, there’s a great little veggie restaurant called Bon on Sha, which is run by a French lady and her Japanese husband. They speak like four languages … The food was great (they had tofu cheesecake!) and the place so vibey (all wood and clean decor) that we went back 3 times in the space of 24 hours. They sell handmade pottery and carvings, and I managed to find 2 great cups for my tea collection.

Back in Osaka, we experimented with, firstly, tea (in my nice new cups!) and secondly, gluten meat over the course of the week. When you hear gluten meat, those Yuh-Der soya fish, prawn and steak products come to mind, right? Or maybe you think of something like Fry’s? Think again.

In Japan, gluten meat contains no soya … it’s all wheat. Which is a big problem if you’re wheat intolerant! Anyway, that’s the prime meat replacement here – they serve it at lots of the veggie restaurants, and you can buy it tinned online, or at health stores. On its own, it tastes bland … maybe a bit wheaty. But if it’s cooked right, it’s delicious. I’ve had it battered and fried, and also barbeque-sauced and shoved in a tortilla. Now I’m addicted to this too. In fact, I’m signing off right here, to go munch some sweet goma dofu and wheat meat … in that order.

Next episode: Kobe, organic fruit, and veggie festivals in Kyoto.

Crazy conbinis

16 September 2009

Most convenience stores (konbini) in Japan are open 24 hours、and most people live, at most, 1 km away from one. Even in rural (inaka) areas. Seriously. This is konbini country. After a long night out, when you’re wandering the streets, waiting for the trains to start running again, konbinis are a popular place to refuel. They sell everything from instant meals (not bad quality, either) to magazines, deodorant and adult DVDs. You can even pay your bills, fax and photocopy stuff. And most importantly, konbinis sell rice balls.

Onigiri, as they’re known in Japanese, are little triangles of super-processed rice, with a strip of seaweed around the outside, and a bit of filling. Most contain fish, but there are almost always pickled plum (ume) and kelp (kombu) options for us vegans. The filling is written in kanji on the front. No problem, I thought, because the packets are colour-coded too. At Lawsons (a huge chain of konbinis; they even appear as landmarks on Google Maps), purple means plum and green means seaweed. Unfortunately, at other stores (there are about 4 other major chains – 7/11, FamilyMart, am/pm and Sunkist), green also means fish, and I had the unpleasant experience of biting into a rice ball and staring into the eyes of about 100 tiny, dead fish. Moral of the story? Learn kanji, and bite with caution!

Fish appear in some form or another in almost everything in Japan. Salad? Why not add some fish flakes to that? Soup stock? Definitely.

Speaking of creatures from the sea, the annual Taiji dolphin massacre is taking place as I type. Thousands of pilot whales and dolphins are chased into a cove, to be slaughtered for their flesh or captured for entertainment parks around the world, every single year. This year, the hunt was delayed thanks to the movie The Cove, which has raised awareness of the issue worldwide; but now, the sea is running red with blood again. Please take the time to watch this movie, and tell your friends. Dolphin abuse sucks.

Settling in

31 August 2009

It’s been a month since I arrived in Japan, and I’ve settled in pretty well. My sidekick and I have figured out the rubbish and recycling system (a complicated affair that can result in smelly bags of trash being returned to your doorstep, if you put them out on the wrong day), I’ve lost my karaoke virginity (to a Big Echo in Osaka City) and I’m still vegan. Yay!

I discovered a really useful label on food – the letters ‘JAS’ and two interconnected circle thingies – turns out this is the sign for organic. A lengthy inspection of all the supermarkets (‘supaa’) in the neighbourhood yielded organic daikon radish (literally, ‘radish radish’), cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, brinjals, peppers, pasta, potatoes, and, most importantly – tofu! It’s quite a bit more expensive, but totally worth it. Sometimes they even put a picture of the farmers on the packaging.

I also visited a really “rad” vegan restaurant in Hommachi, which is about 40 minutes from my flat, easily accessible on the train lines. It’s called Raku (’Luck’) Café, and it’s what locals call a “hole-in-the-wall” – a tiny place with a counter and seats for at most, 6 people. The owner is vegan and really chilled. I’d read about his restaurant on Vegan Japan. He doesn’t speak much English, but we managed to talk to him with the help of smiles、gestures and a veggie couple sitting nearby. There was no menu, he simply asked us if we were eating (‘tabemasu ka’), we said yes, and an awesome salad, potato dish and pasta dish were served.

On the counter was a set up of glass flasks and tubes, reminiscent of a school chemistry set. This turned out to be the coffee maker! I tried to say how cool I thought this was, and ended up being served coffee … freshly ground and smelling heavenly across the language barrier. Actually, I stopped drinking coffee about a year ago, but this whole experience was too cool to pass up! So I left feeling slightly caffeinated and totally inspired – until then I hadn’t come across any veggie Japanese people.

I’ll definitely be going back to Raku, but one thing I won’t be trying again is something called nattou. If you’ve watched Anime, you’ll probably have heard of it. Nattou is basically fermented (a euphemism for ‘rotted’) soya beans, which are served as a phlegmy topping for breakfast rice. There’s a joke that the final test that stands between foreigners and Japanese citizenship is nattou … and no one can pass it. So of course, I was determined to be the exception. Alas, I failed. Miserably. Nattou stinks like a sweaty fermenting foot and has the texture of stringy snot … it’s very healthy and may be linked to longevity … but I just can’t swallow it. *sigh*

If you can stomach nattou, I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a line and tell me how.

Next episode: beer, edamame, rice balls and more!

August 14: Touchdown

It’s been 2 weeks since I arrived in Japan, and I’m pleased to report that I’m surviving on more than just soya milk and onigiri (rice balls). Not much more, but hey. If you thought being vegan in South Africa was tough, think again. I totally took Fry’s for granted!

When they say they put fish in everything in Japan, they really mean it. A lot of vegetarians who came over here started eating fish because of it. From soba noodle dishes to salads, there’s something fishy about everything. At the supermarkets, they have shelves full of dried fish … that said, they also have entire aisles of tofu, miso and other bean products. Not to mention seaweed, grains and tea!

I think being vegan in Japan is only tough while you’re figuring out the language, what to buy, and where to eat out. I’m sure it would be the same for a Japanese vegan in South Africa. If you are planning to travel to a place where English isn’t an official language, be sure to learn to ask what’s in foodstuffs – oh, and what the answers mean too! Learn from my mistakes.

I’ll be in Japan for the next 12 months, teaching English (yawn, how clichéd) at a senior high school in Osaka. This blog will be about my vegan adventures though – if you want to hear about my teaching, drop me a line.

So, food … never in my life has buying food been so frustrating, or exciting! My first meal involved matching the pictures in my Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide to items in a Tokyo combini (convenience store) and convincing myself that beer could provide the RDA of B-vitamins … it got a bit better when we arrived in Osaka and found a supermarket – although IBS sufferers be warned, brown rice is virtually unheard of! This weekend we’ll be hunting down some Japanese hippies and extorting from them the location of said rice, as well as organic fruit and veggies.

Fruit and veggies are very expensive here – particularly because we are in a city. One shouldn’t convert back to rands … but when you’re paying R40 for an apple, you can’t help it! That said, the fruit, suspiciously large and immaculate as it may be, is pretty good.

Soya milk is interesting … as much of it contains dairy milk too! One of the few vegan brands comes in some rather … unusual flavours, such as dairy milk (boy, was that an unsettling taste experience), cooca (as in the leaf, not the chocolate) and green tea … luckily I can now tell which colour is original. Green tea soya milk flavoured cereal, anyone?

Next episode: nattou … traditional breakfast of Japan, secret to longevity, and the final cultural barrier no foreigner can overcome!