Last week, I travelled to the North of Japan and spent 5 out of 6 days in Niseko, a town in Hokkaido. Niseko is known for having the best powder for snow sports in the winter, and it truly did!
Japan is not the most vegan-friendly country in the world. Their diet has a lot of meat and fish in it, and those items get sneaked into the food you’d think is normally ok.
Hokkaido is famous for its seafood, so a lot of restaurants in the area focus on cuisine using that above all else. So coming here, I was very curious to see if there would be any vegan options in Niseko, the countryside of North Japan.
Let me show you what I found!
I wrote about our time in Niseko, if you’d like to check it out have a look here!
Is Niseko Vegan Friendly?
The short answer to the question is yes and no. Because of Niseko’s popularity for skiing, it has a lot of Western influence, but it’s still behind other countries and not the most vegan-friendly place.
It also depends on where you stay and your means of transport. We couldn’t walk to a lot of restaurants where we were staying, and public transport and taxis were the only means of getting around. This isn’t always ideal when you’re hungry and need food ASAP.
However, with a little research and planning, there are definitely places you can go to have a nice meal. Don’t let this discourage or stop you from coming to Niseko as there are absolutely things you can do to make it a bit easier!
I thought I’d share my findings with you so it will hopefully save you some research time!
Do you need a car in Niseko?
If you want to venture out, unless you are staying in the main town I will definitely recommend hiring a car. It would be incredibly handy in Niseko, but it’s not necessary. As mentioned, there are also buses, trains and even taxis but that could get a bit pricey.
The hotel we stayed in is a bit further out of the main area (Hirafu), but they offered a complimentary shuttle bus that had limited running hours.
If you stay in Niseko Village, this is the bus that will be available to you too. Click here to have a look at the timetable.
So without further ado, here are 12 vegan-friendly places you can dine at during your stay in Niseko.
12 Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in Niseko
1. Afuri
Type of food: Japanese, Ramen
Best for: Ramen lovers
Price: $$$
A chain ramen restaurant with a branch in Kutchan, Niseko, offering a “Hazelnut Tantan” ramen and two side dishes.
TEL: 0136-55-7756
11:00 – 15:00 / 17:00 – 22:00
Open 7 days a week
〒 044-0081 Hokkaido, Abuta District, Kutchan, ニセコひらふ1条2丁目6番9号
2. Green Farm Cafe
Type of Food: Easy-to-eat Western breakfast and lunch foods
Best For: Casual dining with a cosy atmosphere
Price: $$$
A cafe with fantastic coffee, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner using fresh and organic produce. There is only one thing from their lunch menu marked as vegan, a falafel gyros. However, they have other items on the menu that could possibly be made vegan: Shakshuka, without the feta, a smoothie bowl, mushrooms or avocado on toast without the egg. (Please confirm before ordering)
TEL: 0136-23-3354
7:30 – 17:00
Open daily
〒 190-4 Shiki Niseko, Kutchan-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido, Japan 044-0081
3. Niseko Miracle Yukiya (known as Niseko Farms)
Type of food: Japanese, gluten and dairy-free foods
Best for: A quick and easy meal for those who are on a budget
Price: $$$
A restaurant with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meal options. Options include soba and curry. They also have vegan cheese made from soy products that you can buy.
TEL: 0136-44-1400
10:00 – 17:00 Wednesday – Sunday
CLOSED Monday & Tuesday
〒 113 Chuodori, Niseko, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1512, Japan
4. Musu
Type of food: Comfort food
Best for: Fancy nights out
Price: $$$
A bistro and cocktail bar with vegan options. They have soup, a tempeh bowl, risotto and veggie toast. It also looks like they have a separate lunch and dinner menu.
TEL: 0136-21-7002
11:00 – 24:00
Open daily
〒 190-13 Yamada, Kutchan Abuta-gun, Hokkaido, Japan
5. The Pow Bar Cafe
Type of food: Vegetarian cafe with healthy lunches and baked goods
Best for: Breakfast, snacks and great coffee
Price: $$$
A vegetarian cafe with vegan baked goods such as doughnuts and cinnamon rolls. They also have a family-owned business making 100% natural energy bars and health food. Produced in Niseko, since 2019.
TEL: 0136-55-6739
8:00 – 16:00
CLOSED Wednesday & Thursday
〒 77-16 Aza Motomachi Niseko Town, Abutagun, Hokkaido, Japan 048-1544
6. Taj Mahal
Type of food: Indian food
Best for: Those who fancy a change from Japanese food
Price: $$$
Indian restaurant with a separate vegan menu. Options such as onion bhaji, vegetable pakora, aloo gobi, mushroom mutter and roti.
TEL: 0136-55-8699
Mon 17:00 –22:00
Tue-Sun 11:30 –22:00
〒 429-45 Aza Niseko, Niseko-cho, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1511, Japan
7. Wild Bill’s Niseko
Type of food: Latin American food
Best for: Casual restaurant dining with lively music
Price: $$$
Bar and tex-mex restaurant, using Hokkaido produce. Options such as nachos and tacos using vegan cheese.
TEL: 0136-55-5774
15:00 – 02:00
Open daily
〒 189-8 Yamada, Kutchan, Abuta District, Hokkaido 044-0081, Japan
8. Kougetsu Izakaya
Type of food: Japanese tapas
Best for: Traditional Japanese dining experience
Price: $$$
A family-run Izakaya and bar with vegan options serving small tapas-style dishes. Options such as Agedashi Dōfu, Agedashi Nasu (Deep fried eggplant with soup) and hotpot.
TEL: 0136-22-6028
18:00 -23:00
Open daily
〒 170-41 Yamada, Kutchan, Abuta District, Hokkaido 044-0081, Japan
9. Japanese Kitchen & A snug Japanese Pub REN
Type of food: Japanese
Best for: Cosy pub where you can experience a traditional Japanese Izakaya
Price: $$$
7 min by foot from Hirafu ski resort, a Japanese restaurant with a separate Winter, Summer and vegetarian menu. Vegan and gluten-free options too.
TEL: 0136-55-8978
17:30 – 23:00
Open daily
〒 179-11 Yamada, Kutchan, Abuta District, Hokkaido 044-0081, Japan
10. Ichi Ichi Kitchen
Type of food: International and Japanese fusion
Best for: A cosy and friendly dining experience to enjoy the beautiful view.
Price: $$$
A restaurant with a vegan burger on its menu. A ”Pura Tempeh Burger” vegan cashew cream, house-baked bun, fried potato, pickles, lettuce & house-made ketchup.
TEL: 090-4052-0011
18:00 -22:00 Tuesday and Wednesday
11:00 – 15:00 / 18:00 – 22:00 Thursday – Saturday
Closed Sundays and Mondays
〒 263-14 Soga, Niseko, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1522, Japan
11. Niseko Sanroku Parlor
Type of food: Sandwiches
Best for: Snacks or a light lunch
Price: $$$
A cafe offering sandwiches, soups, desserts and hot and cold drinks. There is a falafel sandwich on the menu which has falafel, lettuce, tomato, hummus and mayonnaise which may be suitable if you ask for no mayo (make sure to check the bread ingredients).
TEL: 0136-55-8918
11:00 – 16:00 Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Closed Wednesday and Thursdays
〒048-1521 Hokkaido, Abuta District, Niseko, Higashiyama, 19−19, Japan
12. Lava Louge
Type of food: Pizza
Best for: Casual eating and sports watching
Price: $$$
A sports bar with seven big screens with plenty of seating, offering vegan pizza on their menu. During happy hour, you can get 2 medium classic pizzas for ¥2,500 between 5-6 pm every night.
TEL: 0136-55-8797
16.30 pm-Late (Last Order on Food – 11.00 pm)
Open daily
〒191-19 Yamada, Kutchan-cho, Abuta-gun 044-0081 Hokkaido
Vegan food on Niseko Mountain
All across the mountain, there are cafes on the slopes as well as at the bottom of the mountain for you to have a break, rest your feet and grab something to eat and drink.
At the time we visited, some of the cafes were closed, most probably because this was the first year it’s been opened up to outside tourists.
Hopefully, by next year, all the cafes and restaurants will be open as usual. We visited two cafes/restaurants and were not too surprised by the lack of choice available to us.
Whether you’re on a budget or want to make sure you’ll have enough to eat for a full day of charging Japow, your best option is to prepare beforehand and bring your own food to enjoy on the slopes. As long as you buy a drink, some restaurants are ok with you eating your own food.
Before leaving for Hokkaido, we ended up baking two loaves of bread, (most bread in Japan contains milk and or egg in it) and had ‘ham’ sandwiches with homemade flapjack bars on the slopes.
Niseko Annupuri Rest House
Located near the jumbo hooded quad lift #1.
This restaurant serves ramen, donburi dishes and curry, none of which were suitable for vegans. So we ended up getting two black coffees, which were not very good, and a bowl of chips (not sure what they were cooked in) that we put into our sandwiches to fill it out a bit more.
A very casual eatery with plenty of seating, we chose to sit by the window so we could watch the world go by. They even have a vending machine serving hot and cold drinks.
〒 481 Niseko, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1511, Japan
Hanazono EDGE
Restaurant cafe and bar, located right next to the Hanazono lift #1.
When we entered the restaurant, I was surprised to see two plant-based options, a vegetarian curry with soy meat ham cutlet and a soy meat ham cutlet burger. However, by now I know that seeing “plant-based” in Japan doesn’t necessarily mean that.
So with my limited Japanese, I asked one of the staff members if either of them had egg or milk in it. I had to go down the allergy route as I thought it would be easier to be understood (as I said, my language skill isn’t that great yet, trying to improve!)
I actually didn’t get a clear yes or no but instead got advised that if I have an allergy to にゅうせいひん (dairy products) it’s best to not go for it, so I didn’t.
So instead of the soy meat cutlet, we grabbed two black coffees, chips and onion rings (unsure what they were cooked in). The coffee was much nicer than the cafe previously, actual coffee beans were used.
This restaurant is much bigger than the Rest Stop, it’s on two stories with loads of seating options to choose from. They have separate cafe and bar areas and state no outside food is to be brought in.
Open December to April 9 am – 6 pm
〒 328ｰ36 Iwaobetsu, Kutchan, Abuta District, Hokkaido 044-0082, Japan
Our hotel
We booked a room at Green Leaf Niseko Village, a hotel which was a bit more expensive than our normal budget allowed. However, we booked it for Jonny’s late birthday ski trip and wanted to treat ourselves as skiing in Japan was something that had been on his bucket list for a long time.
Vegan options at Green Leaf Niseko Village
Our stay included a buffet-style breakfast so we emailed about our dietary requirements as soon as we had booked it. However, they weren’t very accommodating.
We asked what we would be able to eat from the buffet, which wasn’t a lot, but luckily, we aren’t fussy eaters.
We also asked if they would be able to make a few things that would be suitable for us, or at least get a carton of soy milk so we could have it with our cereal and or coffee.
However, we were told that we would have to pay an extra ¥1,300 per person per day (£8 / $9.75 pppd) for us to have something different.
This may not sound like a lot for most people but it was to us, we were disappointed with the hotel for not being able to accommodate and provide something like soy milk which is widely available in the country, especially as our stay included breakfast as well. However that’s Japan for you, they don’t like to stray outside the lines.
Apart from the hotel, we were trying to do everything else on a budget so didn’t want to pay extra for something we felt should be the norm and be accommodated for.
What we ate
For breakfast, there was a very large selection for those who didn’t have any dietary requirements. We had cornflakes on the first day with our own milk, from home, and some fruit.
The days after, as we had run out of milk, we had ochazuke rice (we brought from home), natto, a mixture of fruit, and boiled tofu.
At least we can count on Japan to supply us with a practically unlimited amount of rice! This was more than plenty for us to eat but would have been nice to have a bit more variety and options.
As for our evening meals, we wanted to venture out but we had only three days of skiing, so we wanted to make the most of it, ultimately messing up the evening bus times.
On top of that, the mix of having brought food with us and the awkward bus times, and making the most of being on the mountain meant that we prioritised skiing instead of eating well.
Luckily we came prepared with plenty of easy-to-eat foods so it wasn’t too much of an issue. We ate T’s tantan pot noodles for three nights and an instant soup and homemade bread for one of the nights.
We knew the room came with a kettle and a fridge so we were limited in what we could “make” ourselves for dinner. Of course, this isn’t healthy and not something I would want to do long term but for the five days we were here, it was ok and gave our body some fuel.
Shops and konbinis near Green Leaf Niseko Village
The hotel had a shop that was open from 17:00 – 21:00 but apart from a tube of Pringles, mentos, an ice lolly and some drinks, there was nothing of substance we could have. The same could be said for the local shop, Niseko Village Marche, which was a 10-minute walk away from the hotel. We went out with the intention of buying soy milk but instead came back with a tube of salt-flavoured pringles.
Our hotel felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. To get to any major shop or konbini, where we could buy something that would fill us up was a bus ride away. To be honest, we could have taken the bus ride but we didn’t want to waste time not being on the slopes, so didn’t end up bothering in the end.
Looking at the above list of restaurants and cafes you may think that it’s easy to be vegan and that there are plenty of options for your stay, and that’s true.
However, as mentioned previously, they’re all quite far away so you will need to either rely on public transport, get a taxi, rent a car, or have accommodation near the main town of Hirafu.
If you’re anything like us, you didn’t come to Niseko for the food but to experience the amazing Japow, so as long as you come somewhat prepared and do your own research, you won’t be too bothered about eating properly for a few days.
