I have just moved to Yokosuka to be with my husband who has been here for a year and a half.  I have begun to run into some problems when purchasing groceries and finding meals when we go out for dinner.  I am a vegan and therefore cannot eat a lot of the food I've come across in the restaurants.  As for shopping, the commissary has more than I thought they would, but still not enough.  Are there any stores off base to purchase vegan options?  I used to shop at a few local health food stores where I lived in the states.  Is there any type of store like that?

The grocery store in the Daiei Mall is pretty good. It expands on the Commissary's selection, so combined, should prove to be a great addition to your shopping needs. To my surprise, I found Dragon Fruit there this weekend. Got to try it for the first time. Yummy.

Have you tried the vegetable n fruit store in the blue street? The supermarket at the ground floor of mores. How about livin or ave? They are the best stores here. If your looking for somewhere close go check out the saikaya mall ground floor as well and seiyu. Both the latter are in blue street and I believe you'll find great food choices there.

Rachael,

You may want to read over these 2 discussions. They discuss Vegan, and Vegetarian discussions.

Commissary:
http://www.japanbases.com/forums/aft/6129.aspx

Has the commissary taken a turn for the better? Could it be?!
http://www.japanbases.com/forums/aft/2404.aspx

Frank- I'll have to try out the store in the mall. We've been to it but not ever long enough to actually look at something to purchase. Thank you!

Akakmg- We haven't tried any of the markets off base yet. We've been to Livin, but the problem comes that I cannot read anything there. I can barely speak Japanese let alone read it. As for produce, that's not really what I'm looking for. Produce seems to be pretty easy to come by. It's other vegan items that I would like to find. What is Ave? I've never heard of it. I also don't know what the saikaya mall is either. Thank you for the help. It's greatly appreciated.

Adam-Thank you so much. I had actually already read through the first post you listed. It was only a little helpful. I read through the second one too the other day. I emailed one of the contributors to that conversation who said she was vegan, but I haven't heard from her yet. Do you have any other ideas or solutions?

Thanks again!

Please update if/when you find sources for good stuff! We are moving to Yokosuka in March and I have been wondering about this myself.
I'm sure everything I want to eat is available in Japan, but how do you find or ask for things like Vital Wheat Gluten (commissary may have this, it does where we are now) or Nutritional Yeast
One thing I did get is a book called "Japanese Vegetarian Cooking" which has some really detailed descriptions of Japanese ingredients. Not that I want to eat strictly Japanese food, but I'm hoping that it will help me eat more local flavors and figure out markets in town.
& I keep reading posts about the commissary being out of unsweetened soymilk... this makes me nervous, as our commissary can't keep unsweetened almond milk in stock so I just buy out in town, but how will I know when I can't read the package? I might be able to order the dry goods online, but almond milk?

Posted By Rachael on 01-20-2012 2:00 PM

Do you have any other ideas or solutions?

One suggestion... talk to the commissary manager.  If there are items in the commissary system but not carried in Yoko, he can easily get them for you.  If they are not in the commissary system, he might still be able to help.  He sometimes participates on JB.com and seems like he really wants to help.

I am not a vegan but eat vegan a lot of the time. I seem to manage except for some things, and eating out is hard as you have no idea what is in things. I use my translator on the I-phone when I need to know about ingredients too. Great place in Hiroo that caters for vegans - Island Veggie or Veggie Island. Also Eat More Greens in Azabu-Juban was lovely too! Around here not so sure. The Commissary has some Veggie Slices in the salad/greens section - not sure if they are vegan...

The Japanese symbol for organic is green JAS with a little green leaf next to it. I'm sure you could google it, I don't know how to add a pic. ヴィーガン　and ビーガン are both used for Vegan(n), as I'm told. Vegan=完全菜食主義者(kanzen-saishoku-shugi-sha) Hope that helps.

If you have an iPhone, there is an app called "Lost in Japan". It allows you to take a picture of kanji and translate it for you. It's worked ok for me in the past but I don't use it enough to know if it has terrible translations.

Tokyo has a bunch of restaurants. I went to one burger place and it was great! Most interesting steamed rice burger.It was in Rippongi just off if exit 6?I heard about this restaurant, supposedly the most popular vegan place in Tokyo. It's called Vegan Healing Heart Cafe. http://www.vegancafe.jp/

These are mail order websites for vegan shopping in Japan, a friend of mine orders hers:

ALISHAN, an organic and natural foods catalog company. They have a variety of selections of imported vegetarian items and you can also download their English-version catalog.
Address: 185-2 Komahongo, Hidaka Shi, Saitama ken, 350-1251
Phone: 0429-82-4811
Fax: 0429-82-4813
E-mail: tengu@gol.com
Web site: http://www.alishan-organic-center.com [English/Japanese] (online shop available)

http://www.magokoroworld.jp/ (in Kamakura, small cafe/shop)



OTHER STORES:

Chikyu-jin Club Natural Foods Market Health Food Store
1-5-29, near Roppongi Hills and Food Magazine (at Meiji Street and Roppongi Street)
Tokyo Japan
03-57716145
Info: Offers wide selections of fruits and vegetables, and vegan and non-vegan ice cream, personal care products, vitamin, packaged foods, gifts, and more. Delivery available. Address in Japanese: 東京都港区麻布十番1-5-29. Azabu Juban shopping street on the RT.
Hours: Open daily until 8pm.
www.chikyu-jin.com


Natural House Health Food Store
3-6-18 Kita Aoyama Minato-ku
Tokyo Japan
03-34982277
Info: Part of chain health food store. Sells organic fruits and vegetables, variety of soy mockmeats, and more. Has a deli. Open 10:00-22:00. See website for other locations throughout Tokyo and Japan. Also at: 1-17-2 Shirogane Minato-ku. Address in Japanese: 東京都港区北青山3-6-18.
www.naturalhouse.co.jp


Natural Mart Health Food Store
Hiroo Flower Home 102, 5-19-5 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku (at short walk from Hiroo metro stop)
Tokyo Japan 150-0012
03-64082528
Name in Japanese is 株式会社 ナチュラルマート. Natural foods market. Stocks soy milk, rice milk, whole grains, tahini, soy cheese, organic produce, natural skincare products, natural pet foods, and more. Address in Japanese: 東京都渋谷区広尾5-19-5 広尾フラワーホーム102.
www.naturalmart.jp


Tengu Natural Foods Health Food Store
185-2 Komahongo, Hidaka-shi, Saitama-ken (at Koma Station on Seibu Line out from Tokyo)
Tokyo Japan 350-1251
04-29824811
Natural foods shop offering a wide range of multi-ethnic vegetarian foods and locally grown organic produce. Has nationwide delivery. Call for catalog. Same location as Alishan Cafe. Address in Japanese: 埼玉県日高市高麗本郷185-2.


Ambika Trading Company Other Vegan/Vegetarian Stuff
3-19-2 Kuramae, Ambika House, Taito-ku
Tokyo Japan 111-0051
03-6908-8077
Indian vegetarian grocery shop, with online order & delivery service available. You can get lentils, beans, nuts, rice, frozen vegetables and Indian spices, ready to eat curries, and frozen Indian ready products. There are no ingredients lists to confirm what is vegan, so vegans email to ask. Not all veg.
Hours: Open Mon-Sun 10am-8pm.
www.ambikajapan.com






Hope this helps. Sorry, couldn't find any stores near Yokosuka.

All, I actually just noticed this post.Thai Guy thank you for the comment about seeing the commissary management about more vegan options. Truthfully for on base that I think is also the best. Reading through this post I saw two items that our commissary currently does not carry I believe. Tomorrow when I get to work I will check our stock assortment and see if they are available to us. I know this past week alone I have sent request for yet more vegan and vegetarian options to be available in the overseas commissaries, particularly Yokosuka. However, if it is in one Far East store it is usually pretty easy to get that item into another.

If anyone has any particular items they would like to see just PM me or fill out one of the Patron Communication Forms at the commissary. I promise we will get a response back to you in a timely manner.

Thank you all! Mark, thank you for being so on top of things! Most of the veggie items in the commissary are not vegan, just vegetarian. To be completely vegan, the items need to not have any animal byproducts. Most of the items have either eggs or whey in it still, including the Veggie slices. The only "fake" meat I've found in the commissary that is completely vegan is the sliced "turkey" located by the veggie slices, and the Boca Vegan burgers in the freezer section. Other than that, it looks like I'm having to be extra creative to make meals. I've also had my family send some items over from the states, such as the nutritional yeast. I just wish I could read Japanese so I could buy things more freely at the mall's and whatnot. I appreciate everyone's help!

I am a gluten free vegan and have lived here for nearly two years. Let me tell you, it is just hard. There is no way around it. The commissary has really improved in the last year. THey now have smart balance vegan butter (not earth balance). That is a big win. There is one grocery store that sells tempeh (Seiyu, the specialty store on the first floor). Use the happy cow app or site to find places in Tokyo to eat (there are LOTS, including my personal fav, Brown Rice Cafe in Omotesando Hills). Bottwom line, order food from Amazon and beg friends and family to send you treats, buy out in town, and prepare to be really flexible and really frustrated. Many Japanese dishes will say vegetarian but be made with pork broth. The closer to Tokyo, the easier it seems but we eat at home A LOT!

Here are a couple of "safe" places to eat in Yokosuka area:
Denny's (go figure, it's not like the states)
Roshie's Avacado (in Nobi)
Sushiro in Uraga (some veggie sushi, not much)
Match Point (Zushi)
Bill's (Hayama)