Hi there, I’m so excited to visit Japan and hope I can have a safe experience. I’ll be visiting Japan for two weeks in Tokyo, Osaka and one day in Kyoto. I’ve seen a lot of peanut/tree nut allergy questions on here, but I have a few more unusual ones in addition to those.
My deathly allergies include peanuts, tree nuts (cashew, walnut, pistachio, hazelnut and more!) and sunflower seeds. I’m also allergic to legumes/beans (cross contamination is likely fine), but fortunately can enjoy coffee, peas and soybean.
I’ll be carrying an allergy card (example below) and have been practicing a phrase: “Watashi wa arerugi pinnatsu to konomi to moyashi to mame. Daizu daijoubo, shoyu oishi!”. But I can only speak a little japanese and I can’t read the characters well. I currently leave out sunflower seeds because I believe it isn’t used often, is that a safe assumption? I want to make it easier to understand.
Here are some of our plans:
– Visit Disney and Universal studios (does their allergy curry use nuts tho??)
– Kyoto guided tour (notified allergies)
– Himeji castle
– General Tokyo and Osaka exploration (museums, arcades, malls, temples)
Here are my questions (sorry I do have quite a few haha….)
1. Given these allergies, do you think it’s still safe for me to eat from the konbini’s fresh food such as Onigiri? Do they all contain adzuki or nuts? Otherwise, I can just eat packaged foods and use Google Translate.
2. Are there chains that I should look for that are english friendly?
3. Does Japan like to use nuts besides almond/coconut in their coffee? I really love coffee and would love to try some! (I can cross contaminate with almond/coconut and I do in the US often)
4. Is it true that some soy sauce can contain walnut or cashew oil? Should I bring my own packets? It’s my favorite sauce!
5. What japanese foods would you recommend? I’ve heard yakitori, ramen, udon and sushi should be okay, just no sauces right? How about teriyaki chicken?
6. What alcohol would you recommend? I’ve enjoyed a couple different sake in the US!
Thank you for taking time to read and reply. I’m an anxious person so I’m sure I’m overthinking this 🙂 I also want to be as polite and helpful as possible since I am a US foreigner, so open to tips on that too!
My Allergy Card:
食物アレルギーに重度の症状があります。
命にかかわるアレルギー反応を避けるため、以下の食品を絶対に避けなければなりません。
* ピーナッツ
* ナッツ（アーモンド、カシューナッツ、クルミ、ピスタチオ、ヘーゼルナッツなど）
* ひまわりの種
* 大豆以外の豆類 （大豆は問題ありません）
* もやし
* アズキ
Edit: Thank you all so much, I appreciate your kindness! I’m feeling more confident now.
by peanuts_r_spooky