Travelling to Japan with a Peanut/Treenut Allergy – My Experience

Good Evening

Recently, I travelled to Japan for 10-12 days, depending on how you count travel time. I also have a deathly allergen to nuts. While the smell doesn't make me die (although, any allergen people can confirm – it stinks to high heaven) , the touch and taste are big trouble. This includes cross contamination.

I wanted to quickly share my experiences in the country eating with allergies. I will preface with a couple quick things

1. I live in Canada, one of the greatest places on the planet for having a nut allergen.
   • 2. I am more diligent than most people with a nut allergy – I base my decisions on safety and employee transparency. I have had 3 attacks in 24 years, and all have been from family members whos food I refuse to eat now. I know lots of people with anaphylactic allergens – including several who will just "eat around the nuts". I don't eat in store bakery food due to cross contamination, I actively avoid restaurants that use nuts (based on frequency in the cooking) and am low risk adverse
   • 3. I speak next to 0 Japanese, so communication was a bigger hurdle than it may be for you. Its worth noting that more Japanese people speak English fluently than its made out to be online; for a secondary language, its pretty impressive.
   • 4. I work retail and in a high school in Canada; I have trained around 50 people in customer service and witnessed a few hundred. I can say with out a doubt in my mind that the minimum wage/part timers/service industry people here are WORLDS above the average here. I would say 80% of my current department would be fired for their customer service skills in Japan. I have 0 bad to say about the service, and appreciate how difficult it is for my allergy
   • 5. Japan has 28 major allergens – but not every nut is one. This means they don't have to identify them all on the wrapper of food in the same way we have it here.
   • 6. Tokyo was, overall, Slightly better equipped for dealing with allergies. this is probably due to the fact its a major tourist spot, and closer to the major airport

I also want to note that I am making this post in response – research lead me to find things before we left, but I read everything I could find with very mixed results. I'm not sharing this to hear your opinion on how I conduct myself with my allergy; I'm sharing this as a guide for those who want a more detailed analysis of food allergen in Japan.

Lets Begin
OVERVIEW

So, people will tell you how great Japan is with a peanut allergy. This is true – to some extent, very few items in japan carry peanuts in my experience. However, other nuts are fairly frequent. We saw a great deal of almonds, cashews, and pistachios. You can definitely avoid them; but its something to be cognizant of. The big thing here that's different is Understanding; People in Japan will look at you like an alien when you pull out your allergy cards (Linked below). While it takes them longer, they will help you to a high level to understand. I also appreciated the authenticity of their care; while in Canada I often get a "I don't know, man" or something equivalent, the people here were very confident saying either Yes or No. I walked out of around 50% of restaurants based on safety – a pretty big increase from Canada.

PREPERATION

Preparation is key for travelling anywhere with an allergy, and my first steps are always CHECK

C: Chains: Chain restaurants are so huge for people with allergens. Chains have uniformed stances, *Often\* the same menu and easy to find allergen info online.

H: Home: Cooking at home is great, if you have the time. renting somewhere with a stove may be a good idea for you

E: Expensive: While I didn't use this too much in Japan, Expensive restaurants can often be better than smaller operations due to career staffers,

C: Convivence: Identifying snacks and easy to grab food before leaving. In Japan, with the convivence store food being more edible, this was a huge help

K: Keep looking: This may be the hardest for me; after a few restaurants in a row tell you they cant accommodate, or don't know, it wears down on you. You have to keep your head up

This ideology helped me stay sane in japan; while it isn't always a big deal, I am a pretty big weightlifter/athlete back home so I eat like a machine. I eat a lot, and especially when my walking was using so many calories and energy.

a HUGE assistance for me was my allergy cards; essentially, there are 2 cards that say everything that I am allergic to, and a preface mentioning both the food and the oil. I used two together, since the phrase Tree Nut isn't as common there.

Here is a link to the first card and the secondcard. For the second one, I cut and paste the nuts in Japanese and placed them in the clear section to avoid confusion from poor handwriting.

RESTURANTS/EXPEREINCES

Convenience stores: We ate at convivence stores a little bit. I would say a convenience store meal in Japan is equivalent with a fast food restaurant here (not great, but good enough). I often had a sandwich from the cooler. it was ok, and I used google translates camera (A MUST USE) to translate and asked the worker.

McDonalds: If you had told me, that while i was in Japan my most eaten place would have been McDonalds – i wouldn't be happy. However, I was pleasantly surprised – McDonalds Japan is consistently a pretty good meal. The ones in Canada are, quite frankly, horrendous. I would avoid the baked items, per usual, but i enjoyed fries, nuggets and Egg sandwiches quite a bit. When I asked the employee the first time we went, he told me to use the website linked here. He also came to check to make sure we were okay after the first few bites – much more than id ever expect at McDonalds here.

Ichiran: The biggest chain in Japan produced some of the tastiest meals. I loved Ichiran: the system was very helpful, they had posted allergy info in the restaurants and a simple menu. these are usually a recipe for allergen success. This chart here is similar. Interestingly, the chart doesn't list almond as an allergen, despite it being on a dessert. Overall, this was my favorite Japanese Restaurant – it was excellent and not too horrible for you.

???: I cant type the name of this one, but here is the address ongoogle Maps. Its the building in the picture with the blacksign. We had Soba and Fried Chicken here, and it seemed to be a small business. The food was quick, tasty and safe (they said no nuts many times). It was also empty.

USJ: USJ was supposed to be the golden child. The times i have gone to American theme parks (Disney World, USF) and always had a stellar time. I figured USJ would be the same, as they have an excellent website showing things. It was not. I couldn't find anything to eat (we tried several restaurants) but terrible curry and rice for 2000 Yen. I ended up just waiting for the Hard Rock Café in the Universal walkway. The staff were wonderful in the park, and the food looked ok – it was just too bad. The prices were also the highest we saw all trip

Hard Rock Café: At this point i was pretty hungry, so we went to the Hard Rock. It has some great food and excellent service. i had the fish and chips + the pulled pork sandwich. While talking to the server, I asked her about tipping; she said she gets tipped around 25% of the time, so I tipped her. She was just wonderful. I only mention the tipping because this was the only place in japan it came up.

TGI Fridays:Service was excellent, but probably our worst meal in Japan. Doesn't mean that it was bad, but just the quality at the other restaurants was higher. It was safe though, so maybe just don't get the burgers. Probably identical to the one in the states.

Kuche new München: Excellent food and service. I sent the whole restaurant into a bit of a mad dash trying to figure out my allergy, which made me feel silly. It was worth the wait, and I was so appreciative. it was so tasty.

Speed Round: Restaurants that immediately told me no: Wolfgang Puck, all of USJ, Travorra Travola (In the Fuji Outlet), Subway, and a few cook-your-own style restaurants all told me no very quickly. However, it was very politely and they seemed to feel bad, which made me feel bad….

CLOSURE
Overall, Its very possible to eat in japan with a nut allergy. However, you need to make decisions more frequently than North America for safety. Baked Goods, Desserts and salads are often my problem in Canada, and the same was the story there. I want to once again re-iterate that the quality of care and food was so much higher. I personally hate being "the allergy guy" and no matter how frustrated i may be i never take it out on the staff. However, there is a world of stuff you could probably try that was just outside of my comfort zone

Thanks for your time and have a great day. I hope this helps just one person!