In Japan, konbinis (convenience stores) are literally everywhere! With over 57,000 stores across the country open 24/7, not only are they highly convenient, but also incredibly cheap.
In Konbinis you can do pretty much anything. From buying food, drinks, and skin care, to household products, as well as paying your bills, picking up parcels, using an atm, using the printer and scanner, the list goes on!
But today, I want to talk about the vegan food and drinks that are available to us. There are a lot of things you need to be careful about and know before picking up an item from any convenience store.
Let’s get into it so you can be prepared, and live out your best life in Japan!!
Convenience stores in Japan
Going into any convenience store, you’ll be met with an array of items. All Japanese convenience stores have ready-to-eat meals but so far, I have not been able to find anything suitable for vegans.
Instead, there are many sweet and savoury snacks as well as drinks that are vegan and can provide your body with much-needed fuel whilst exploring Japan. I’ve survived on Onigiri far longer than I probably should have!
When travelling around Japan, especially in areas out of the main cities, there may be no vegan food available for you. In these cases, a konbini can be a great place for you to get a simple meal.
In some rural areas, you might be able to find any one of these three chain restaurants with vegan options on their menu.
Convenience stores where I am from in the UK are normally not that great and often filled with low-quality as well as unhealthy foods. Japan, on the other hand, is the polar opposite.
So don’t be surprised by the quality and the abundance of choice they offer when you first visit one. I guarantee it’ll be one of the main things you miss when you’re holiday in Japan is over!
But it’s worth noting that things are slightly different when it comes to food in Japan. Items you normally buy are suddenly no longer vegan (i.e. milk in bread), and there are many other hidden ingredients in items that you wouldn’t normally expect.
So the key is to read the labels carefully and do your research! (Good to see you here!)
Different convenience stores in Japan
When you’re travelling around Japan, you will most likely come across many konbinis – the most common three you will probably see are Family Mart, Lawson and 7-Eleven. However, there are so many more across the country.
Some of them include:
- 7-Eleven
- Family Mart
- Lawson
- Natural Lawson
- Lawson Store 100
- Ministop
- Daily Yamazaki
- NewDays
- Poplar (mainly in Western Kanto)
- Seicomart
Reading labels
Reading Japanese labels can be tricky as not only is it in another language but the laws don’t require manufacturers to indicate everything in it, if only a small amount is used.
A lot of packaging includes ingredients and an allergen list but not all provide allergen information. I like to check the allergen section first to see if anything stands out then go through the full ingredients list after.
It’s important to take your time when reading the labels, especially if you’re still learning the language as things can be missed. Google Translate will be your best friend, although not always fully accurate, it’ll save you on many occasions!
If you want to get better at reading Japanese food labels as a vegan, have a look at my recent post, it should make it easier to navigate food!
Do some research before you come to get yourself familiar with products and make sure to have a look at Is It Vegan Japan? which offers an extensive list of suitable foods.
Ready-to-eat food (cold)
What you’ll usually find in any konbini
One of the main ready-to-eat foods in any convenience store is onigiri (steamed rice that’s sometimes filled and wrapped in seaweed) and sushi (steamed rice seasoned with vinegar).
Inari sushi (rice wrapped in tofu skin) as well as some onigiri tend to look vegan, even after looking at the ingredients list. However, some of them have dashi made from fish in them that has not been listed on the ingredients list.
The same can be said for plain-looking noodles such as soba or udon noodles which are usually dipped into a tsuyu or flavoured sauce. Although the noodle themselves would be ok, the dipping sauce will have dashi in it. You could perhaps choose to change the sauce for the soy sauce you buy separately.
Unfortunately, there is currently no point in looking at ready-to-eat meals as 99.9% will not be vegan-friendly. I’m yet to come across anything remotely suitable, saving the 0.01% in case there is one – please let me know if there is!
Safer ready-to-eat convenience food (cold)
So I can hear you asking, ‘What is suitable to eat for vegans at convenience stores?’.
Well, in general, salt and plum onigiri are mostly vegan and kombu onigiri, as well as inari sushi, can be vegan but mostly not. It does, however, very much depend on where you buy them from.
You’ll usually find pre-cut salads, ready-to-eat edamame, plain tofu, and natto in the fridge section. As well as a small variety of fresh fruit and vegetables to choose from. You can usually get fresh bananas at any konbinis.
Safer-to-eat fridge section:
- Salt onigiri
- Plum onigiri
- Plain salads
- Natto (don’t use the soy sauce packet)
- Pickles
- Edamame
- Plain tofu
- Fruit
Ready-to-eat foods (hot)
At most convenience stores, there will be a hot food section by the checkout counter. You can usually eat the hashed potato and anman (a steamed bun filled with red bean paste) which has a very soft and fluffy bun and a sweet inner.
Safer-to-eat hot counter foods:
- Hashed potato
- Anman
- Fried potatoes
Savoury snacks
There are a load of crisps, nuts and snacks at any konbini. If it’s a Japanese product, you’re safer to go for plain, salt, or nori-flavoured items, but always double-check before buying as they sometimes use gelatine in them.
You’ll also need to watch out for margarine, butter, katsuo dashi and other animal-derived ingredients.
My personal favourites are crispy sweet potato sticks and soy sauce or any flavoured senbei (rice crackers) – once again, not all suitable.
Safer-to-eat snacks:
- Plain nuts
- Salted nuts
- Salt flavoured crisps
- Nori flavour crisps
- Sweet potato sticks
- Senbei (rice crackers)
- Dried fruit
Sweet treats
Having a massive sweet tooth, one of the main things I missed when we moved to Japan was sweets! Compared to what I was used to back home, the choices are pretty limited. I often joke that I have turned into a little grandma as I now get my sweet kicks through eating jelly and boiled sweets (not all safe).
Japan has a lot of wagashi which are tea sweets and sometimes you can pick them up from the fridge section at a konbini. Although, it’s worth noting that traditional Japanese sweets aren’t very sweet compared to what’s available in the West.
You can find cereal bars/snack bars at most stores, look out for Soyjoy plant-based and Asahi (Ippon Manzoku Bar Cereal Black 80% Less Sugar).
Most jellies in Japan are made from agar (seaweed) instead of gelatine so should be ok. But, it’s always worth double-checking to be on the safe side. My favourite is the mikan orange jelly from 7-Eleven!
Safer-to-eat sweet treats
- Jelly
- Boiled sweets
- Packets of pre-cut fruit
- Cereal bars
In the freezer section
On a hot day, when you have a real craving for an ice lolly, 99% of the konbinis will have at least one that is ok to eat. Have a look at my post I wrote the other day for some of the best vegan-friendly ice lollies in Japan!
For ice creams, I’m yet to see one that’s okay to eat at a konbini. You’ll have to go to bigger supermarkets, speciality stores or Natural Lawsons for that one.
Gari Gari Kun is a very well-known ice lolly and it’s vegan-friendly! You’ll most widely see it in the blue packaging which is a Japanese soda flavour but they also have other types such as grape and mikan orange flavours. They are very refreshing and the classic Japanese ice lolly I grew up eating!
When I was a child they used to have something written on the ice lolly stick. If it said あたり(a-ta-ri), you’d won and could go back to the shop with your ice lolly stick and claim another one for free!
You’ll also find frozen vegetables in the freezer section which could come in handy if you’re looking to make a meal at your accommodation.
Cupboard items
Travelling around Japan and staying somewhere with access to a microwave or kettle? You’ll be able to find a couple of things you can make a tasty meal out of.
Every store has packets of microwaveable rice and you can even sometimes pick up curry packets. However, for other things such as pot noodles and other easy-to-eat food, you’ll need to find the closest Natural Lawsons.
Things you can get:
- Microwave rice
- long life cut fruit
- Tinned sweetcorn
- Curry
- Miso soup
- Pot noodles
- Sauces, oils and condiments
- Tea, sugar and coffee
Drinks
You won’t have a shortage of choice when it comes to drinks at a konbini!
Coffee
As a nation of coffee lovers, coffee is available pretty much anywhere. A lot of the konbinis have their own coffee machine at the front of the store where you can get hot or iced coffee. You can even choose how strong you want the coffee to be.
For iced coffee, get the cup filled with ice from the freezer and take it to the machine after paying for it. You can get the hot coffee cup from the tills after you pay. Although it’s not going to be the best coffee ever, it’s also not terrible. It’s cheap and a great pick-me-up.
| Regular | ¥110.16 (£0.60/ $0.77) |
| Large | ¥210.60 (£1.15/ $1.47) |
| Regular | ¥110.16 (£0.60/ $0.77) |
| Large | ¥180.36 (£0.99/ $1.26) |
In the fridge section, you will find many black coffees that you could add your own add plant-based milk.
More companies are releasing coffees using soymilk and oat milk but it’s not always available everywhere. Look out for Tully’s, Mt Rainier, Asahi.
Tea
There are so many different types of cold and hot teas available at convenience stores in Japan. Unlike teas you might be able to get back home, most teas you can buy are not sweetened unless you buy fruit or milk teas.
My go-to tea since I was little has been Oi Ocha, which is a delicious cold green tea (also really nice hot too). It’s so refreshing!
Different teas available in convenience stores:
- Ryokucha (green tea)
- Hojicha (roasted green tea)
- Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice)
- Oolongcha (chinese tea)
- Mugicha (barley tea)
- Jasminecha (jasmine tea)
- Kocha (black tea)
- Matcha*
- Milk tea*
- Fruit tea*
*not always suitable
Plant-based milks
Soymilk or 豆乳 (to-nyu) is widely available across all of Japan, Kikkoman and Marusan are the two most popular brands of soymilk in Japan.
Kikkoman does many different flavours of soymilk such as lemon, banana and coffee, which come in smaller 200 ml cartons. Just be careful not all different flavoured soymilk from Kikkoman are vegan.
At some stores, you can buy full-sized bottles of soymilk too which is very handy for when you’re staying in a Airbnb for a few days.
豆乳 – soy milk
調整豆乳 – processed soymilk
無調整豆乳 – unprocessed soymilk
You’ll often see Glico almond milk available at the store and more recently oat milk too. Once again, not everything will be suitable – some Japanese almond milk contains pork-based emulsifiers so you’ll have to be careful.
Juice
Japan has many new and exciting-looking drinks for when you fancy something more than water. When it comes to sweets and beverages, the staple Japanese flavours are grape, peach, melon and soda which may be flavours you have not tried before. They come in normal bottles or sometimes in cute cartons.
They also have drinks such as Aquarius or Pocari Sweat which are both sports drinks that are especially great for the hot Japanese summer. The combination of vitamins and minerals salts replenish your electrolytes lost due to exercise and heat.
- If you see any drink with the words オレ (au lait) on it, it has milk in it.
- Don’t presume that a smoothie is made just from fruit and water as it could have:
- creaming powder (クリーミンパウダー)
- yoghurt（ヨーグルト)
- milk products (乳使用)
Natural Lawson’s is your best bet!
Natural Lawsons is owned by the same company as Lawsons but they target those who are more health conscious. Because of this, they have a lot of imported goods suitable for vegans and people with dietary restrictions.
Out of all the convenience stores, Natural Lawsons will be your best option and you’ll be able to pick up many more things than a normal konbini.
However, they’re not everywhere. But don’t worry because if you’re in Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa and Tokyo you’ll be able to find one nearby.
Some vegan food in Natural Lawson:
- T’s vegan pot noodles
- Ready-to-eat curry packets
- Mock meats
- Soup
- Dairy-free yoghurt
- Vegan cheese
- Easy-to-cook noodles
- Variety of crisps
- Cookies and biscuits
- Variety of cereal bars
- Chocolate
- sweets/ candy
- Pre-cut fruit and dried fruit
- Variety of plant-based milk and drinks
- Ice creams and lollies
- Wine
I hope this guide helps you navigate a convenience store easier as a vegan. Hopefully, you now have a few things to know to look out for and products that you know are safe to eat!
A rundown of things to keep in mind about vegan items in Japanese convenience stores:
- Researching beforehand will save you a lot of time.
- Unless it explicitly says so, don’t presume anything is vegan.
- Check out this post to get better at reading labels.
- If you’re unsure about anything use Google Translate but don’t solely rely on it.
- Have a look at is it vegan Japan? on their website or Facebook page.
- If mistakes happen, don’t beat yourself up about it. All we can ever do is go out with the intention of doing good!
Notes:
In this guide, there may be items that use white sugar processed via animal bone char as well as products produced in the same environment as dairy or animal-derived products.
On all the lists I’ve written “safer” to eat items as there are unfortunately no items across the different stores that are explicitly vegan unless you go for the obvious fresh fruit, (which you can’t go wrong with).
