I’m a solo traveler from California and I would describe myself as someone who is a particularly picky eater. Around California, I have experimented with a lot of Japanese food, but there is a small amount of Japanese food in the U.S. which I just won’t try.
The foods or ingredients which I try to stay away from is any type of seafood and sushi. I’m aware that sushi and seafood isn’t what makes up the entire Japanese cuisine, but if I were to travel to Japan with this specific preference would I not have a good time?
Any information/recommendations are a 100% welcome! Also, please note that the title is a bit weird as food questions are handled a bit different on this sub.
35 comments
I think you will be okay, there are a lot of options for food, mostly meat options though. Japan also has like American fastfood brands if you get desperate
You’ll be fine. Loads of non-seafood stuff there.
(I don’t like seafood either.)
>I’m aware that sushi and seafood isn’t what makes up the entire Japanese cuisine, but if I were to travel to Japan with this specific preference would I not have a good time?
Seems like you know that there are more food options than sushi… so what’s the problem? Don’t eat sushi, eat meat, eat ramen, eat 100000 other things that aren’t seafood or sushi.
There’s TONS of options outside of sushi and seafood
Be aware that many foods do incorporate stuff like dashi (fish stock). Basically sukiyaki, gyudon, etc. all have sauces or broths they braise in that use dashi. Ramen typically has dashi in one way or another. Udon broth usually does. Etc etc.
So if you’re ok with that you’ll be fine.
Otherwise you can go and just fine non-Japanese food to eat. Lots of options although they may not be as good as here in the states.
Do you like rice bowls or ramen? Japan has some absolutely phenomenal rice and beef/chicken/pork bowls. Yeah you can eat plenty of delicious food without touching sushi/seafood. I think you’ll love it!
I hate all seafood and had the time of my life eating beef, fried chicken, rice, ramen, soba, udon, and sandwiches in Japan.
I don’t like seafood or sushi either. Just came back from 3 weeks and loved it.
Do you like fried chicken ? I survived on 80% 711 fried chicken. Not because I’m a picky eater but because I like fried chicken and all of the convenience stores have it
just been in tokyo, also a non-seafood eater. had no trouble finding places to eat! truly any option you could think of is available somewhere, just have to be willing to find it 🙂
There’s such an incredible variety of foods in Japan. Even if you were an incredibly picky eater you’d be totally fine. If you decide you can eat nothing else, there’s McDonald’s everywhere.
Just got back from japan. My wife doesnt like any seafood, she didjt have a bad meal. Amazing trip cant wait to give back
Just eat on mcdonalds
You could definitely do a whole trip not touching sushi. “Seafood” as a category is a bit harder if you have a more mental aversion to it or allergies as it may be a part of a lot of seasonings and such, for example anything made with dashi (like miso soup potentially) traditionally is made with smoked / dried bonito. But if your issue is more like “I don’t find eating shrimps/fish/shellfish that I can see appetizing, and I just don’t order the seafood items on a menu” then you’ll most likely be OK
However if you’re honest with yourself and you are not at least open minded I think you may have a bad or disappointing time. I know people who absolutely love Japanese culture who had a miserable time in japan when they went and a lot of it was down to food because of the culture shock. They ended up eating americanized food the entire time and feeling let down that it wasn’t as they expected.
You could basically eat just convenience store fried chicken, Mcdonalds, and ice cream the whole time if you wanted. But it just depends on your expectations of what you want to get out of the trip. So really it’s just down to you. Personally I think there’s a lot of really great non-seafood dishes and restaurants out there, and unless places specialize in seafood there will usually be a meat option of something (like Okonomiyaki for example)
Are you allergic / prefer not to eat any seafood period, or just seafood where you can tell that it is seafood?
Most dishes are at some point cooked/seasoned/marinated with seafood-based stock, so if this is the case it may be simpler to assume vegetarianism (as presumably meat and seafood might be cooked in the same pot or grill for instance), so basically download HappyCow and read trip reports by vegetarians/vegans. I suppose yakitori type places would be okay.
If it is a matter of out of sight out of mind then there’s lots of stuff to eat.
If you think you won’t like Japanese food, you could eat Yoshoku(洋食) which is western food like stew or hamburger patty but they are served with rice. Also, there are tons of good Italian restaurants in Tokyo as well so I don’t think you’ll suffer too much. If all fails, go to McDonald’s. If you are ok with food not being the primary focus of your trip, you’ll be fine!
I’m a solo traveler and I’m AFRAID of fish, so seafood is generally out. Yknow what I love about Japan? The numerous small cafes that have fusion brunch dishes or just actual Japanese meals plated out in lovely, beautiful ways. These cafes would often have taco rice or hamburg rice, both I’m sure you’d be able to eat. I’ve only eaten actual seafood in Japan a small handful of times and I’ve spent a combined total of maybe 2-3 years there.
I was unknowingly pregnant on my trip to Japan in 2018 and was having a hard time feeling so averse to it. But thanks to ramen, egg salad sandos, yakitori, tonkatsu and various bakeries, cafes, conbinis I ate very well.
I also dislike seafood and I had no problem in Japan. Specifically in Tokyo there’s so many options that it shouldn’t be an issue. I can’t speak for any other cities or towns though as I only spent time in Tokyo.
I’m there now and a picky eater also. If you “stay away” from seafood just because of the taste, then i think you’ll be fine with things like ramen, Oyakadon, katsudon etc. Tonkotsu ramen is pork based – I’m not sure if it has dashi but if it does you won’t taste a fishy flavour. I’ve eaten a bunch of them in the month I’ve been here.
There are honestly SO many options. You’ll always be able to find something to eat even if you’re the pickiest eater ever. Japan is not only the Japanese cuisine you’re used to seeing at home.
First of all most Japanese food outside of Japan is crap. It’s not like Chinese food where you can get pretty decent food anywhere in the world. If you don’t like seafood then you still have tons of choices of Japanese food (let alone all the non-Japanese food available)
Tonkatsu, Yakitori, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, ramen, kushiage, gyukatsu, gyudon, oyakodon, tempura, teppanyaki etc etc
There is a LOT of Japanese food that does not have fish or seafood. And even if you end up not liking Japanese cuisine in general, you can always find western dished like pizza or hamburger, you could even eat McDonald every day if you want. Would some people judge you and say you missed an aspect of Japan… yes… but if that’s what you can eat… then be it.
My wife doesn’t like fish/seafood and we’ve just finished 3 weeks. It was absolutely fine. We ate almost exclusively Japanese food, no McDonald’s, no Mos burger, no KFC, no Italian restaurants etc.
In Tokyo especially there were plenty of specifically western style restaurants (Italian or French) and other Asian (Chinese or Indian.) We didn’t eat at any, though.
In Japan I have eaten (a lot) of the best beef I’ve ever had. Look for yakinuki restaurants. You fry/grill your food yourself and you can choose the meats and things you want. Also, izakaya (like a Japanese “pub”) does small plates, so you can pick what you want. plenty of the options are not related to seafood.
I’d say that having been a few times now, the first foods I associate with Japan are actually fried chicken (*karaage*) and beef (especially in the kansai and Gifu regions.) They’re both *everywhere.*
I would say that the only things that simply aren’t worth doing for you, even though it’s often on lists of things to do, are markets. It’s often in guidebooks to visit a covered market for lunch. Even the ones that aren’t specifically fish markets are overwhelmingly fishy. Fish, fish parts, crustaceans, live crabs etc everywhere. And yeah you can get beef on a stick but you’ll be surrounded by fish haha. Maybe walk through and have a takeaway beer, but don’t bother to stop and eat.
Overall, I think the quality of *all* Japanese food is on average somewhat higher quality than most Western European and much higher quality than American. So you’d be missing out if you just went to “fast food” places here. (Except sandwiches, Japanese sandwiches suck. Not that they taste bad, they’re just very empty and bland compared to European sandwiches.)
Tl;Dr – lots of Japanese food isn’t fishy. If you don’t like even the stuff that isn’t fish, in major cities it’s easy to eat western food.
If you wanted to you could eat nothing but American junk food in Japan, McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC etc
Not that I recommend it
I went to Japan in May, mostly Osaka and Tokyo. (I have a whole video series about it on YouTube, but sharing it is spam, apparently, so message me about it if you’re interested.)
I made sure to eat at a different place for every single meal, and captured them all in my vlog. I remember actually realizing how little sushi I ate. I do like sushi, but there was just so much other stuff to eat there.
When you consider that Tokyo is the biggest city in the world (by urban/metropolitan area) you can bet there’s a lot of variety of food to eat. You may have to make reservations at the fancy or unique restaurants (character cafés especially, if you’re into that kind of thing). I regret not making a reservation at that one immersive art-during-your-meal place, as well as Ninja Tokyo for the ninja experience. Gonpachi, the restaurant featured in Kill Bill Vol. 1, may or may not need reservations – I heard it did, but then realized I didn’t make them, and then I heard that one could take a chance and still try to get in, but then the timing didn’t work out so I didn’t bother. Sort of regret that one.
And then Osaka is known as “the kitchen of Japan” so there’s bound to be something you can eat other than seafood. I had some world-renowned Kobe beef while in Osaka, and enjoyed spending time at Dotonbori Canal, where there is a variety of street food. I didn’t end up liking takoyaki though (but since you don’t like seafood you probably wouldn’t get it in the first place).
Just got back from Japan and my partner is a fussy eater who doesn’t like Asian flavours and isn’t a fan of seafood. He didn’t go hungry and we didn’t get McDonalds either. You can get a lot of ethnic foods there, Italian is popular.
Yes, no, maybe
I’m in Japan just now, and I’m allergic to some fish so have been avoiding it altogether. No issues so far, lots of things to eat.
Karrage and curry are so good that you could live off it for the whole time and not get sick of it.
Beyond that, convenience stores have a lot of different things to eat if you don’t want to sit in a restaurant, stuff like sandwiches and baked goods.
Even when my partner wanted to go out for sushi I just stuck to the vegetarian stuff and it was good, and pretty cheap.
I’ve also had the best Italian food when being here, and I’ve been to Italy multiple times!
I’ve also seen, but not eaten, mexican food, Spanish food, American food, British pub food etc. So lots to try!l and lots of options available.
If it is a matter of simply not liking seafood (and liking or being open to other things that do not involve food), you’ll be fine. Japan’s a nice place. No one will force you to eat seafood, and even if you should end up eating in a sushi joint you’ll be able to find (a few) dishes that do not contain seafood.
If you have a medical condition, however, that necessitates your not being exposed to seafood, I’d suggest printing out and laminating a card that looks something like this:
>深刻な魚介類アレルギーです。アレルギーには、魚介類、魚介類を使った食品が含まれます。安心して食べられるメニューを教えてください。ご協力ありがとうございました。
The above, roughly translated, means ‘*I have a serious allergy to seafood (including both seafood and shellfish) and any dishes prepared with those things. Please point at things on the menu that would be safe for me to eat. Thank you for your kind attention*.’ I put in the ‘point at (or indicate)’ so you won’t have to understand spoken Japanese or actually read the menu.
Most cities in Japan, however, have scads of non-Japanese restaurants that’ll suit you well.
Just eat egg salad sandwich’s from convenience stores the whole time you’re there. You’re missing out on a lot if you’re limiting yourself though.
I’m in Japan right now as a solo traveler. I honestly have never felt so lonely. I have been to several countries but honestly this one I just feel alone. So far I really don’t think I could recommend anyone comes here alone and I can’t say that for any other country I’ve been to. Also the local restaurants you just push a button and get a ticket for your food, in no expert but it doesn’t seem easy at all to customize your food here.
The world does not revolve around you.
If it is truly an allergy, and not just “I don’t like” make a little card or slip of paper in Japanese that says “I am allergic to [shellfish]. Even something cooked in the same dish or in contact will kill me”.
You can show this to the shop keepers. Depending on the place, the person taking your order may likely have no idea if the dish contains that, but it is at least a first defense.
The same for my Muslim guests for whom I have a card that says basically “No pork products please” or whatever other restrictions. Keep in mind that it would not be uncommon for people order pork curry but without the pork, and the shop keeper thinks “OK, just take the pork cutlet off the top” but forgetting that the base of the curry sauce is pork.
If it is just because you don’t like the taste, you don’t have to worry about a little bit of dashi being in something, because it does not have “fish” flavor. I have a coworker that says he can not eat fish, but what it really means is he can not eat anything that he knows has fish in it. So long as he does not know, he is fine and often likes it.
I am highly seafood allergic (ER Anaphylaxis Allergic) and had no issues at all in a long trip. Certainly have to be careful and communicate properly with vendor or waitress before eating.
I don’t eat seafood as well and was totally fine in Japan for a month. But it makes a huge difference if you just don’t like seafood or if you are allergic. If you’re allergic it will be tricky because of how much stuff has ingredients like dashi. I couldn’t actually taste any seafood flavor in anything I ate but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was present.