I last visited Japan in 2016 and am interested in going back. My partner, who has never been, also would like to go, but there’s a problem: she has lots of food allergies—specifically, she has allergies to gluten, dairy, egg, citrus, and soy. None of her allergies cause anaphylactic shock, but her gluten and soy allergies cause GI issues and flu-like fatigue.
Most of the posts I’ve seen on here about allergies involve people navigating just one intolerance, but the fact that she has so many presents additional problems. I’m at a total loss for what, if anything, she could possibly eat in Japan. It usually takes a fair bit of planning to find food options even in major cities in the US, but soy is in so many Japanese foods that it’s difficult to avoid. It would be doable (with a lot of effort) if that was the only allergy, but most of the only other food alternatives I can think of involve breaded foods or foods with wheat noodles. Sushi is the only thing I can think of that *might* be safe, but only certain kinds would be, and I don’t know that it’s really feasible to have that for every meal.
Short of packing two weeks worth of her own food, is there any way for my partner to be able to visit Japan and eat while she’s there? Or is it just not feasible?
2 comments
I think I would stay in a place with a kitchen and do some of my own cooking if I were you. You might be able to find some options to eat out, but I think it might be good to have the option to eat at your accommodation. We shopped for small stuff at the supermarket when we were there (fruit, cheese, bread, etc), it’s kinda nice not to eat every single meal out anyway. In Kyoto we stayed with a company called resistay, so it was a full apartment – we were happy with that, and it was cheaper than a hotel.
*Yakuniku* (grilled meat) restaurants should be relatively safe in Japan, but otherwise you should start with [this guide to gluten-free eating in Japan](https://www.legalnomads.com/gluten-free/japan/#Concerns_About_Insulting_the_Chef_with_Meal_Changes).
An honest answer would be to be stay at AirBNBs with a kitchen and cook for yourself. Some ryokans may be able to accommodate you, when booking well in advance, but this would be extremely expensive way to do so.