Japan;Translations and gen Info

[Silly Yak]

www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend-Soseki/2157/gfcf-gluten.html

explains what a gluten-free diet is and what foods contain gluten
and what foods do not:

[Silly Yak]

Japan, general information
....
a) CD is mainly a western European disease and may be almost unheard of in
Japan.
b) The Japanese language is very different to European languages and does
not use the same gramatical concepts, so a direct translation is unlikely to
make sense to a Japanese person.
c) There's also a matter of etiquette to be considered and Japanese people
can be easily offended. They also tend to find Westerners (especially
non-Japanese speakers) a bit scary and intimidating.
d) I was advised to keep it very short as wait staff,especially in the big
cities, are usually very busy.

10. People put forward various creative suggestions as to who I might
contact to get help in translating/checking the translation - the airline
JAL, the Japanese embassy/ consulate, native Japanese working in a local
restaurant here. Taking on board the difficulties listed above, and to make
sure the card
would make sense to a native Japanese person, I followed up on this
suggestion by showing the translations which I felt suited my needs best to
a native Japanese working in the travel agent where we bought our rail
passes. He has been extremely obliging in helping me to work out one which
reads appropriately.

EATING OUT

1. The general consensus was that most (some said all) Japanese soy sauce
contains wheat and that I should bring my own wheat-free tamari (which I
plan to do).

2. I was also warned that in Japan soy sauce is widely added to food before
or during cooking, not just served separately so I will have to be prepared
for its ubitiquous use.

3. Pickles served with food can often have some wheat in them.

4. A Japanese person suggested learning a few dishes to survive on and
learning to pronounce them.

5. Sushi (using GF soy sauce for dipping), miso soup, mixed salads, plain
rice ("gohan") and eggs with rice ("om raisu") were mentioned as good
potential GF options.

6. Tofu is particularly good in Japan and is a speciality in Kyoto.

7. Soba noodles are traditionally made from buckwheat, but most nowadays
have some wheat flour added also (pity!).

8. I was reminded to make sure that pans are used to cook my food are
properly cleaned and not just rinsed with water in between uses. The ideal
would be to eat at places where you can see the cook in action.

9. It is likely that I may have to compomise my vegetarianism somewhat in
order not to offend and to make sure that those serving me concentrate on
prioritising the GF issues. I accept that this is the case, especially as
I realise that stocks used are often meat- or fish-based.

10. It was mentioned that Japanese are aware
that children often have a problem with gluten, so going to a restaurant
with a menu for children might be easier.

11. There's an iced tea made from barley I'll need to avoid.

12. There is a restaurant guide at
www.weekender.co.jp/new/restaura ... -thai.html
with many Thai or Vietnamese restaurants listed in Tokyo.

ADVICE RE WHAT TO BRING

1. GF soy sauce, e.g. tamari (someone suggested I bring an attractive small
container for use in restaurants).

2. Food items in small cans with pop-top lids.

3. Energy bars

4. Trail mix (nuts especially) -- the packages are quite small in Japan.


USEFUL PHRASES

bakuga = malt
mugi = barley
hatomugi = a kind of barley
komugi = wheat
raimugi = rye
karasumugi = oats

All of these grains have the same character (mugi) and the one for flour
is more or less the same.

Dame = bad (pronounced+ dahmeh)

Simple: Mugi to komugi wa dame. (Barley and wheat are bad.)

Better: " Watakushi ni wa, mugi to komugi wa taberaremasen desu yo. "
(I cannot eat barley or wheat)

There doesn't seem to be a Japanese term for 'coeliac' .

BUYING FOOD

1. Reading labels will be a problem, but I was told that everything that
has gluten in it should have a particular character (mugi) on the label as
it is used for all the gluten-containing grains, except minor ingredients
such as seasonings which may not have details included on labels.

2. Puffed corn, puffed rice and rice crackers are usually easily available.

3. Convenience stores and small grocery stores are everywhere and are great
for shopping, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

4. There are health food stores, but not all have a large GF range.

5. GF foods are available from Tengu Natural Foods, an hour from Tokyo, who
also do mail order:
www.alishan-organic-center.com/en/tengu/

OTHER GENERAL ADVICE
One person said: 'The Japanese are wonderful, thoughtful and eager hosts.
Bring lots of little gifts so you can thank people who help you. That goes
over very well and gift giving is a big part of the culture'. I love this
idea and plan to bring some small Irish/Celtic badges and pins for this

[Silly Yak]

From St John’s

....I travelled in Japan last autumn - apologies for only getting around to putting together this summary now.
Japan was a wonderful country to visit with amazing temples, gardens and a wealth of culture to explore. The people are amazingly polite and eager to please (so much so that I felt guilty at times when shopping if I asked for something that they couldn't provide). I brought a stock of little Celtic badges and pins to give as gifts to thank people who were helpful, but then they would feel embarassed if they couldn't recriprocate!
However, I did find that being sure of staying GF in Japan was very difficult mainly due to the language difficulties (most people speak very little English and you can't even read the language because it's in a different script) and the fact that many main dishes contain soy sauce.
My difficulties were compounded by the fact that I am vegetarian so my options are even more limited than most. Many Japanese restaurants specialise in one type of cuisine and there are some wonderful strict vegetarian restaurants based on the Buddhist tradition especially in Kyoto, but I would not subject my meat-eating husband to that type of food every night for 3 weeks!
I brought my own stock of GF bread. snacks, soy sauce, some tinned and dried supplies and found I needed them more than in any other country I've ever travelled in.
I brought a restaurant card type translation (which was written by one Japanase person and checked by another) but, even though they and I put a lot of effort into getting it to read appropriately, it must have been too detailed or obscure because anyone I showed it to pored over it for ages but still seemed to find it hard to understand my requirements - even in an organic type place where I thought they would be more used to special diets. I gave up on it after a few times as it seemed more trouble than it was worth. Instead I tried to communicate by saying "no mugi"(the general word for many gluten-containing grains), "no soy sauce" etc. and crossing my fingers (anti-vampire-style) to indicate the "no" part. I would also point to the relevant characters.
For shopping and eating out, I had printed out some basic relevant words and characters so that I could check labels on yogurt, ice-cream etc. and once I found a brand/flavour that I thought was safe I tended to stick to it. I got very fond of certain flavours of Hazen-daz!
Breakfast was no problem as there was always eggs and rice, for lunch we tended to buy things in a convenience store and picnic and for dinner I just tried to stick to dishes I was reasonably sure were safe (one of best options being shabu-shabu where you cook your own food in a broth and add the sauces yourself). I also ate plain salads and omelettes and obvious GF options in Western restaurants sometimes.
I didn't get sick but I'm not super-sensitive and not as super-careful as some others on the List and I have to admit that to avoid living on plain rice and the few vegetarian sushi options, I ended up either taking risks or eating my own food supplemented with obvious GF choices like fruit, hard-boiled eggs etc.
One big plus food-wise was finding the most wonderful rice cakes - 100 times better than the cardboard Western variety - I ate them a lot when my GF bread stocks ran out. Also loved the small cakes made with moshi (rice dough) and sometimes stuffed with bean paste - I think these were GF though as with most things it was hard to be 100% sure.
Hope this will be helpful to anyone planning a trip to Japan.
Best GF wishes, Liz Ward, Dublin, Ireland

[Silly Yak]

...Three of us in our family are celiac and we manage to go out on occasion but you just have to order plain meat and vegetables or salad, your guest should be used to ordering like that. Japanese food is actually quite easy to go out for because they use a lot of potato starch (katakuriko) rather than flour (ko mugi). Just stay away from the breaded things like tempura and hamburg anything...yakitori, teppanyaki, and yaki niku are great though. There are no bakeries that make gluten free breads, unfortunately, I have to order all the stuff to make it from the US and then do a lot of baking at home. Be careful with the senbei and onigiri too, the ready made ones have flour in it, the handmade ones in the department store usually don't. Good luck.

Robin


www.tokyowithkids.com/discussion ... 20030350pm

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Japan

Posted by jane on 21/3/2010

GF board


I visited Japan about four years ago. Food was potentially very difficult - mostly because you can't read the ingredients list. Most food has an ingredients list but I'm not sure if they HAVE to list everything as they do in Europe. I took a written translation to explain the problem - best to get something beforehand but I found a steward on the plane to write me somethng which I could show in shops/restaurants.
In practice, I found people fell over themselves to help me - from the man in a little corner shop who read the ingredients label on virtually everything in the shop so he could find something I could eat to the man in the shop on Tokyo station who in the middle of rush hour spent 40 minutes finding something for me to eat - I don't know who was more relieved when he succeeded.
Most food has wheat in - you'll find people very helpful - they do understand coeliac disease to some extent but view it as a small child's condition that children grow out of. Take food with you wherever you go so that if you don't find something quickly it's not a big problem. …

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Japan

Posted by Sheona (Drossa) on 22/3/2010

GF board

Meal times will be challenging in Japan. ... have visited Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Odawara (near Mount Fuji), Biwako (in the mountains about two hours from Kobe), Kobe, Osaka and Gamagori (by the sea).

Typically, the restaurants have displays of food on plates (plastic displays) in restaurant windows. Much of the food is served with Kikoman Soy Sauce (Kikoman is brand leader in Japan), and noodles will contain (or be cross contaminated) with wheat - so even rice noodles should be avoided.

Italian food, however, is widely available - so you should be able to find risottos. Throughout Japan steamed fish dishes should be OK. So, too, should sushi (soy sauce is served separately, but you might want to go easy on the Wasabi paste as it can be really hot!), miso, steamed rice, grilled fish, grilled meats, bean curd, salads and vegetable dishes (need to make it very clear that soy sauce not be included in any of the dishes). Omlettes (French style) should be fine. Stir fried foods should be fine provided that the chef knows that a clean wok has to be used for you - and again, avoidance of soy sauce. Desserts are usually simple - fresh fruits, canned fruit salad, lychees and ice cream are typical offerings.

There should be a wide range of foods available on the Shinkansen with separate restaurant menus: French, Italian as well as Japanese and Chinese. You will also find a trolly service of 'bento' (lunch boxes) - you might want to avoid these. There's usually a food supermarket located close to all the stations and you will be able to buy fresh fruits, bean curd, canned tuna and other fish etc.

Lots of food stalls at the main rail stations - some specialising in 'mooshi mooshi' rice and plum paste cakes - even if you never eat them go and have a look. Wonderful confections made to look like flowers, or peaches, or as a glossy brown chestnut peeping out of its' green shell - any one of many different shapes. The colours are incredible and they look too good to eat. Traditionally these would be served as part of a Tea Ceremony.

In certain parts of Japan salted plums are served as snacks. 'Gohan' (morning rice) should be OK as long as it is without soy sauce.

You're not likely to find any gf 'pan' (bread), but as bread is somewhat bulky to carry you might like to consider taking some crackers.

Do take a language translation card - this is essential.

As an aside from food - have you already purchased your train tickets or do you intend to buy the tickets when you are in Japan? There used to be a really good deal where a visitor to Japan could purchase a train travel card (for x number of days) at a heavily discounted price provided that the ticket was purchased prior to travelling to Japan. Once in Japan do remember to book you seat on the Shinkansen.

Contact the Japanese Tourist Office for further information on rail travel, tickets, and ask for more information on foods etc. You might like to also ask the Tourist Office for contact details of the local Tourist Offices to each of the places you plan to visit - I'm sure that you will find them more than willing to help you.

Enjoy your trip to Japan.


....

Cakes are usually made from rice and plum paste (they are really sweet), and should be OK. Just ask them to check the ingredients used in the cakes they are offering for sale


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[kickingfrog]

Japan?


Posted by Sheona (Drossa) on 6/6/2012

GF board

Gluten free in Japan is going to be challenging. I've travelled across from Tokyo to Odawara, on to Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe and Biwako as well as along part of the Inland Sea coast, and there seems to be gluten just about everywhere in the form of noodles, tempura, in soy sauce etc.

First of all, you really do need a Japanese gluten free language card. Secondly, if you are going for work you should e-mail your work hosts and advise them exactly on what you can not eat, AND on what you can eat, as coeliac disease is not at all well known in Japan. You need to spell out to them very clearly that your food should not come into contact with other gluten containing foods.

That said, you should be fine with sushi and salads (the soy sauce is served separately from the sushi). Grilled fish should be OK but you will have to ensure that it is not served with a drizzle of soy sauce. Pickled ginger and salty pickles (plums etc) are all OK. A typical lunch time dessert tends to be orange segments - so they are fine! Miso soup will be a no-no because there will be soy sauce in it... and you will probably have to avoid Bento lunch boxes. There could be a problem if your colleagues arrange in-house luncheons - again, you need to let them know well in advance what foods are - and what foods are not - possible. There are some good Italian restaurants and you should be able to eat several of their dishes (avoiding pasta, pizze etc).

The first thing I did when I arrived in Japan was to buy a bag of fruits as there is little offered in the way of fresh vegetables and fruits when you are travelling and eating out in Japan.

Breakfasts tend to be tea, coffee, toasts and brioches etc. So you might like to bring some packs of biscuits and crackers.

Japan is one country where you should do plenty of advance research regarding eating out. I'd suggest that you google Italian restaurants in the area of Tokyo where you will be working / staying and then contact them directly (I think that many have English speaking Italian owners).

If you already know the name of the hotel where you will be staying you should contact them directly and check out the situation - and always get their confirmation regarding foods and availability in writing! They can send you an e-mail. Get the name of the chef - you can contact the chef directly as well. ......