Vegetarian in Japan?? (Now blogging with photos and labels!)

One of my larger concerns before studying abroad was what I would do about food. At Soka, I did the vegetarian thang for about two months, but I didn't know what I'd do on study abroad when someone else (my host family) would be feeding me. I knew avoiding beef and chicken would be relatively easy in Japan, but I was concerned about Japanese food's being very fish-oriented, so I asked some very lovely SUA vegan ladies about what they did on study abroad. I was told by one of them that it was very hard to be vegan in Japan because even seemingly unlikely things like soymilk can contain some sort of animal/fish-ness. They offered me some ideas about what I could do to keep up the vegetarianism, such as offer to do my own cooking or just not eat 和食, or traditional Japanese foods. These solutions, however, were almost impossible (nothing is impossible if you believe you can!) options for me, and it looked like there wouldn't be much I'd be able to do to stay a vegetarian. Still, I identified myself as a "somewhat strict" vegetarian on my homestay application.

I broke the vegetarian thing at home during winter break because I figured it's not fair to ask my mom to cook a special non-meat meal just for me (also my mom kept bugging me by 1) setting a dish of whatever-meat-thing in front of me and listing the health benefits of said whatever-meat and 2) telling me that I am culturally required as an Okinawan to continue eating pork, a prominent ingredient in Okinawan cuisine, so I just kinda gave up). And I realized that this should have been my attitude for Japan. I can't stay in my host parents' home and ask them to cook for me and expect them to adapt to my food habits, which are nonhealth-related in nature. So my plan became to avoid meat where I could but not to feel bad for eating meat.

My host parents asked me about the meat thing on the first night. I explained to them that when I had identified myself as a "somewhat strict" vegetarian, I meant that I didn't intentionally get meat to eat, but I wouldn't let food go to waste if there were meat in it. They were relieved to hear that because, unfortunately, there was no space in the questionnaire for me to explain in all that detail, and they had worried that I would freak out over food. They assured me that although they eat a lot of fish, I wouldn't have to worry about other types of meat, which they used much less often. Then my host mom listed the various health benefits of fish.

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That first night, we ate nabe, a winter dish which is cooked in a pot at the "dinner table" (at my host house, it's the kotatsu) and contains all sorts of fishy things and vegetables. Not something I particularly like, but it is definitely probably healthful.

Meeting the Family

I was to meet my host family for the first time on Saturday at 2 pm. I was “excited in an ‘I want to throw up’ kind of way.” They came fifteen minutes late, and then we sat down with an interpreter to go over the house rules before I went home with them. The first thing that I noticed was that they are attractive for people in their 60s. The second thing I noticed was that they didn’t seem very receptive to me. During the meeting, as we talked about my new “otoosan” (father) and “okaasan” (mother), I kept thinking about my real family (and my real otoosan and okaasan), and this coupled with my host parents’ seemingly cold reception made me tear up a couple times. I am much more sensitive and much more attached to my family than I’d like to admit.

We made small talk on the way home, but the whole time I was slightly freaking out, wishing I had opted to stay in the dorms. But I felt a lot better once we arrived home. I’m not really sure why, but they live in a former duplex which is attached by a door just inside the front doors. They live on one side, and I live on the other… So I kinda get my own place. A living-ish room, kitchen, toilet, sink, shower, washer (but no dryer, gotta hang it outside), 8 tatami mat size bedroom (complete with a kotatsu, or table with a heater built into it!), and my own key to this side of the house. The only thing I don’t use on this side is the tea ceremony room where my host mom does her tea stuff. For meals, hanging out, watching tv, and checking my email, I go into the “main” side of the house, but otherwise, I chill over here. Nice deal, no?

But my side of the house is super cold!! There isn't really any central heating here, but somehow their side is warmer than mine... probably because mine is less inhabited. I don't know if that makes sense at all. However, having the kotatsu in my room is really nice for keeping me warm when I study, and I also have an electrical heating pad for my bed that I can turn on before I sleep.

That first day, when my host dad was showing me how to use the shower, he accidentally turned on the overhead nozzle and got wet. The next night, when we were eating dinner, he spilled a bowl of rice and broth on the table, and he used the ladle to pick it up and eat it. He has an odd fetish for his host child to open his beer can and pour it into his cup at dinner. He likes to watch informational shows about animals. This April, he will travel to Thailand to climb mountains, and he is the fittest 67-year-old man I’ve met. Perhaps we should all become mountaineers.

My host mom explained to me some of the details of tea ceremonying, like the poetry of the sugar candy that goes with the tea and the differences of doing the tea ceremony in every season. She asks me to carry the food for dinner over to the table and to wipe the table after dinner. She’s obsessed with making sure that I come into and leave the house through my own front door. I hope one day I have enough perseverance to learn how to cook like her.

All in all, they’re very kind people. I still feel very awkward here, like I’m completely intruding on them, but hopefully that’ll go away in a couple weeks.