Great to see more companies making vegan offerings. Yeh, it can be tough even for vegetarians. My brother is Kosher and when he's in Japan it's almost like being vegan..the labeling of products can be confusing. For some reason they'll assume dashi is vegetarian(well, it's not meat..haha). I am a big onigiri eater when there :)
Does your brother know about the National Azabu supermarket? It has a LOT of imported brands, they label stuff well so I am sure they have lots of kosher things too!
great video. I did Tokyo a few years as a vegan and while I did all the research, and knew all the places, even then it was still challenging. Having this would have helped me so much to know what I could just buy at the 711! Coincidentally the best veg ramen I had on the trip, wasnt mentioned in any guide book or you tube video. I was just randomly walking past it and it looked like a normal Ramen place but I noticed a gluten free option. Then on closer inspection of the menu they had 3 veg options. I ended up trying 2 of them they were amazing. Unfortunately that place closed during covid :(
My favourite restaurant ever has closed down during the pandemic. It was run by the most wonderful people and while the nothing much has changed on the outside, they still haven't opened up in years. Such a shame
Very cool video well done! How do you tell if the natto you're eating is the vegan version? As you know some have a meat based protein used in the culture medium and some use a non-meat based culture medium for fermentation. Obviously the non-meat based culture medium would be cheaper so presumably this is what's used in the cheaper natto, but unsure.
I heard of this before, but to be honest I’ve never came across it as far as I know… (My kanji game is not that strong so I usually ask for help) The natto I am showing you in the video is “okame natto”and they are using bacillus natto for the fermentation which is not animal derived. This brand is everywhere I usually just stick to it if I can. I never buy natto rolls from the convenient stores as those usually have some bonito or some other fish products :/
@@viktor-farkasthe bacteria for fermentation often comes in what's called a culture medium. This is a solution that contains the nutrients for the initial bacteria culture to feed on and often shipped in vials to manufacturing plants from a master batch producer. As it's not a main ingredient of the process not all manufacturers are required to state it on the packaging. Likewise the same thing labeling-wise happens with some cheeses like mozzarella rennet; some use plant some use animal rennet. I was wondering if you knew concretely that this natto was vegan; I wonder if there is a way to find out? Anyway keep the videos coming!
I know Miyako Natto and Natto Meijin are confirmed not to use any animal products. I went thru lots of conversations on several vegan FB groups for Japan and I couldn't find anything suggesting that the natto that I am shown in the video uses any animal products... Sorry for the super late reply!
Sorry to be the insufferable Vegan Purity Police, but I wouldn't want to buy natto with the bonito packet in it because whether or not I eat it, the money supports a meat product. I would rather try to find plain peanuts or beans or whatever might be available (I've never been) if I'm unsure about finding natto with only the ume or kelp seasoning that they sell here in my Asian grocery. But I commend you for appreciating natto and trying to find options for people! 💚
It's all good, I get where you are coming from. The video is focusing on "surviving as a vegan" in Japan, and admittedly are cutting some corners. For example none of the brands - aside from T's - mentioned in the video are vegan brands, therefore one could question buying anything from them. I love travelling to Japan, and I think a lot of other vegans do too, but it is a real challenge to eat vegan over there. This video was aiming to help with that. Thanks for checking it out!
This vegan Californian former natto lover, who just finished his 29th Japan vacation, got heartbroken when I learned that gelatin is almost always involved in natto production. The one exception to this, I don't know if still exists...does anyone else know?
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keep this kind of videos coming out, quality is insane. This is the vegan comunity that we need.
Appreciate it thanks!!
super helpful, thanks!
Great to see more companies making vegan offerings. Yeh, it can be tough even for vegetarians. My brother is Kosher and when he's in Japan it's almost like being vegan..the labeling of products can be confusing. For some reason they'll assume dashi is vegetarian(well, it's not meat..haha). I am a big onigiri eater when there :)
Does your brother know about the National Azabu supermarket? It has a LOT of imported brands, they label stuff well so I am sure they have lots of kosher things too!
great video. I did Tokyo a few years as a vegan and while I did all the research, and knew all the places, even then it was still challenging. Having this would have helped me so much to know what I could just buy at the 711! Coincidentally the best veg ramen I had on the trip, wasnt mentioned in any guide book or you tube video. I was just randomly walking past it and it looked like a normal Ramen place but I noticed a gluten free option. Then on closer inspection of the menu they had 3 veg options. I ended up trying 2 of them they were amazing. Unfortunately that place closed during covid :(
My favourite restaurant ever has closed down during the pandemic. It was run by the most wonderful people and while the nothing much has changed on the outside, they still haven't opened up in years. Such a shame
Thanks for this!
Thanks for watching, hope you had a fun trip!
very, very helpful for my japan trip! thanks 💚
Glad it was useful!
Very cool video well done! How do you tell if the natto you're eating is the vegan version? As you know some have a meat based protein used in the culture medium and some use a non-meat based culture medium for fermentation. Obviously the non-meat based culture medium would be cheaper so presumably this is what's used in the cheaper natto, but unsure.
I heard of this before, but to be honest I’ve never came across it as far as I know…
(My kanji game is not that strong so I usually ask for help)
The natto I am showing you in the video is “okame natto”and they are using bacillus natto for the fermentation which is not animal derived. This brand is everywhere I usually just stick to it if I can.
I never buy natto rolls from the convenient stores as those usually have some bonito or some other fish products :/
@@viktor-farkasthe bacteria for fermentation often comes in what's called a culture medium. This is a solution that contains the nutrients for the initial bacteria culture to feed on and often shipped in vials to manufacturing plants from a master batch producer. As it's not a main ingredient of the process not all manufacturers are required to state it on the packaging. Likewise the same thing labeling-wise happens with some cheeses like mozzarella rennet; some use plant some use animal rennet. I was wondering if you knew concretely that this natto was vegan; I wonder if there is a way to find out? Anyway keep the videos coming!
I know Miyako Natto and Natto Meijin are confirmed not to use any animal products. I went thru lots of conversations on several vegan FB groups for Japan and I couldn't find anything suggesting that the natto that I am shown in the video uses any animal products...
Sorry for the super late reply!
@@viktor-farkas Many thanks for the reply that's very useful information; thank you!
@@viktor-farkas Are you positive that Miyako Natto and Natto Meijin do not even use gelatin in the factories?
this is very helpful, thanks a lot!
Glad it was helpful!
❤❤ ❤
Sorry to be the insufferable Vegan Purity Police, but I wouldn't want to buy natto with the bonito packet in it because whether or not I eat it, the money supports a meat product. I would rather try to find plain peanuts or beans or whatever might be available (I've never been) if I'm unsure about finding natto with only the ume or kelp seasoning that they sell here in my Asian grocery. But I commend you for appreciating natto and trying to find options for people! 💚
It's all good, I get where you are coming from.
The video is focusing on "surviving as a vegan" in Japan, and admittedly are cutting some corners. For example none of the brands - aside from T's - mentioned in the video are vegan brands, therefore one could question buying anything from them.
I love travelling to Japan, and I think a lot of other vegans do too, but it is a real challenge to eat vegan over there. This video was aiming to help with that.
Thanks for checking it out!
This vegan Californian former natto lover, who just finished his 29th Japan vacation, got heartbroken when I learned that gelatin is almost always involved in natto production. The one exception to this, I don't know if still exists...does anyone else know?
Starbarfs is one of those companies that unfortunately fund Shitrael. I avoid it like the plague.
No dude, I'm not eating natto to survive.
Ohh yess you will and you gonna love it…
@@viktor-farkas I did love it until I got worried about it usually not being vegan at least in production.