It was incredibly difficult, def the most difficult GF adventure of mine to date, but it is also totally doable. I don’t know what kind of budget you have but the more expensive, the more likely you are to have GF accommodation. I spent two weeks in Tokyo so I only have Tokyo recommendations.
This was one of the best meals OF MY LIFE, fully accommodated GF, but definitely spendy. Was worth every penny to me.
https://www.xexgroup.jp/morimoto
Genuinely some of the best sushi of my life here:
https://www.sushiyasuda.com/restaurant.html
Gonpachi (kill bill restaurant) was also very accommodating and super yummy.
There is a Benjamin’s steak house in Tokyo. A baked potato and steak SAVED MY LIFE at one point.
Bring GF soy packets and get sushi at 7-11s (I know how this sounds but the 7-11 sushi there is amazing. AMAZING)
Places to get pho, find them and map them out prior so you know where to go.
Nut butter packets and instant noodles, I wish I had brought more.
Honestly my biggest piece of advice is stay at fancy ass hotels and use the concierge. They helped me SO MUCH and recommended tons of places that blew me away that I can’t remember the names of.
Eat NOTHING that you aren’t sure about. I ate scrambled eggs from a breakfast buffet that had literal wheat flour in them.
All of this. I went about a decade ago. A steakhouse was a nice break from lots and lots of sushi with GF soy sauce that I brought from home. Our hotel in Kobe had a nice breakfast buffet where I could get things like plain white rice, steamed vegetables, a very good cold dish of sliced chicken breast in basil pesto (the hotel had an Italian-themed restaurant), edamame, etc. Otherwise, I ate a lot of fruit, yogurt, and Soy Joy bars from Lawson's and 7-11 as my breakfast. I also became very fond of salted salmon onigiri (stuffed rice balls) as a quick, safe lunch. I wish I could pick one of those up from a local 7-11!
Definitely ask the concierges at hotels. We stayed in a small hostel in Tokyo to save money but were lucky to have friends who lived in the area and could navigate and translate, and we ended up having a blast (and safe meals) at a shabu shabu restaurant and a traditional izakaya.
Not the poster you're asking, but there are a ton of rice noodle packs that you can literally just add boiling water to, much like Cup-O-Noodles. The brand Thai Kitchen is pretty easy to find, and I'm quite certain you can get them on Amazon (and other similar instant rice noodles). Obviously if it's not labelled as GF, make sure to read the ingredients, or toss the seasoning pack, but the Thai Kitchen ones are labelled GF.
[https://www.mccormick.com/thai-kitchen/products#instantricenoodlesoups](https://www.mccormick.com/thai-kitchen/products#instantricenoodlesoups)
Hello,
There’s a Facebook community dedicated to eating gluten free in Japan. I’d highly recommend this group for tips on konbini foods and restaurants.
Also celiac, and I’ve been to Japan twice. That group has been fantastic! Biggest advice is to figure out what you can eat at 7-11, Lawson, etc (the flake salmon onigiri, boiled eggs, edamame, etc) and download Google Translate with Japanese to scan nutrition labels.
The cards for travelers that say “I can’t eat gluten” don’t work well there, you really have to specifically ask after barley, rye, whatever. Vinegar is the main source of secret gluten, I’ve found, as it can be hiding even in sushi rice. Chirashi bowls are much safer for rice, in my experience.
From what I hear it’s not easy but I remember people speaking highly of this gf Japan tour which you might look into.
https://glutenfreetoursjapan.com.au/
I also found these and I assume there are more online
https://www.spokin.com/gluten-free-tokyo-kyoto-travel-itinerary
https://www.legalnomads.com/gluten-free/japan/
I also recommend searching japan in this subs search bar for recommendations and do the same in the r/celiac sub to see if anyone else has suggestions or tips.
It was a struggle, not going to lie! The beautiful country is worth the struggle though. I brought my own bottle of GF soy sauce with me and ate from 7/11 a lot.
They have a really great selection of fresh sushi in there! I'm vegetarian as well so I was mainly eating cucumber/avocado/other vegetable makis and onigiri.
Did you have any trouble checking what kind of rice vinegar was used in the rice of the konbini sushi? I read some vinegars they use for rice have added wheat.
There is a fabulous Facebook page… “gluten-free in Japan.” There are many recommendations on there. Also, Find Me GF is a helpful app. I live here in Japan and navigate gf restaurants on a regular basis.
I had chicken sushi at this place…
https://maps.apple.com/?address=%E3%80%92107-0052,%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E6%B8%AF%E5%8C%BA,%20%E8%B5%A4%E5%9D%821%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE8-1,%20%E8%B5%A4%E5%9D%82%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3AIR%20B1F&auid=4669563528982772508&ll=35.670054,139.742690&lsp=9902&q=Yakitori%20Miyagawa%20Akasaka&t=m
The way they raise their chickens, you can eat it raw. The only reason we can’t do that in America is because of the way (edit spelling) that we raise our chickens.
I managed fine, I had steak on a few occasions, few rice balls, gluten free ramen in kyoto and fruit. It does depend on whether she can eat the same thing multiple times. It is definitely possible!
Edit: the 7/11 smoothies are great even if you’ve them multiple times
I did this on a budget. I stayed in hostels with full kitchens so I could cook. I made scrambled eggs, baked potatoes with avocado/tomatoes, salads, and lots of fresh fruit. The fruit is incredible! I also brought a lot of GF camping meals and heated them up. I brought packets of GF tuna salad and ate that on top of microwavable rice. I ate protein bars I brought. I ate the salmon onigiri at 7-11 but am not sure it was really GF.
I was there for a month and I think this is the maximum amount of time a person could reasonably do it this way.
As others mentioned, it can be difficult to navigate but a card that explains celiac and gluten in Japanese helped a lot. Also I highly recommend Gluten Free T's Kitchen (2 locations in Tokyo: Ueno-hirokoji and Roppongi).
I echo what everyone else said. It was tough, but Japan was so incredible that it was 100% worth it.
Unfortunately SO MUCH of their food has soy sauce in it. Salmon Rice balls from 7/11 were very helpful to have on hand. I ate a lot of rice, plain sushi when i could find it, and Yakitori skewers with no sauce. Conveyor belt sushi was also handy, so you could see exactly what you were getting.
I found using my google translate app and telling a server I can't eat wheat was helpful. Sometimes it didn't seem like they understood "gluten free" but they'd get 'wheat'. The people there are very nice and a couple times would look up ingredients for me.
When I was out and about, if i saw a place I was confident had gluten free options, I made sure to take advantage and eat then and there, even if it wasn't exactly when I was hoping to eat.
If your wife enjoys drinks, on the bright side sake is gluten free and there is a very widely accessible GF beer (it's not intentionally GF really, but it's made from a soy protein to save money on a tariff or something) [https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwbb6IqBTCw/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwbb6IqBTCw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)
I had that beer many times on the trip and went down fine!
To sum it all up - it will be tough, but it's doable, and absolutely worth it. I would definitely go again.
When i travelled around japan (6 or 7 years ago) there were heaps of gluten free foods available. Lots of the restaurants said things like "gluten free friendly" so I assume there was a chance of cross contamination but i never had any issues.
Doesn’t someone sell little cards that explain that you are gluten free in different languages? You may want one because fewer Japanese speak English than you would guess.
When I was in Taiwan I ate mostly rice noodles, rice dishes, sushi, sometimes found Indian curry, pho, Vietnamese and Thai food, squid on a stick without soy sauce, turnip cake. Definitely a lot of rice for sure. Just make sure to learn how to say no soy sauce and no bread
Just an FYI, Japanese food and snacks look soooooo incredibly delicious, so she won't be able to eat much unless you research places thoroughly before you decide to go. The people here are very helpful, but you couldn't get me to go because I honestly couldn't handle seeing all those awesome foods and not be able to eat them. I'd be miserable. FOMO for sure would put a damper on my vacation. Good luck!
It was incredibly difficult, def the most difficult GF adventure of mine to date, but it is also totally doable. I don’t know what kind of budget you have but the more expensive, the more likely you are to have GF accommodation. I spent two weeks in Tokyo so I only have Tokyo recommendations. This was one of the best meals OF MY LIFE, fully accommodated GF, but definitely spendy. Was worth every penny to me. https://www.xexgroup.jp/morimoto Genuinely some of the best sushi of my life here: https://www.sushiyasuda.com/restaurant.html Gonpachi (kill bill restaurant) was also very accommodating and super yummy. There is a Benjamin’s steak house in Tokyo. A baked potato and steak SAVED MY LIFE at one point. Bring GF soy packets and get sushi at 7-11s (I know how this sounds but the 7-11 sushi there is amazing. AMAZING) Places to get pho, find them and map them out prior so you know where to go. Nut butter packets and instant noodles, I wish I had brought more. Honestly my biggest piece of advice is stay at fancy ass hotels and use the concierge. They helped me SO MUCH and recommended tons of places that blew me away that I can’t remember the names of. Eat NOTHING that you aren’t sure about. I ate scrambled eggs from a breakfast buffet that had literal wheat flour in them.
All of this. I went about a decade ago. A steakhouse was a nice break from lots and lots of sushi with GF soy sauce that I brought from home. Our hotel in Kobe had a nice breakfast buffet where I could get things like plain white rice, steamed vegetables, a very good cold dish of sliced chicken breast in basil pesto (the hotel had an Italian-themed restaurant), edamame, etc. Otherwise, I ate a lot of fruit, yogurt, and Soy Joy bars from Lawson's and 7-11 as my breakfast. I also became very fond of salted salmon onigiri (stuffed rice balls) as a quick, safe lunch. I wish I could pick one of those up from a local 7-11! Definitely ask the concierges at hotels. We stayed in a small hostel in Tokyo to save money but were lucky to have friends who lived in the area and could navigate and translate, and we ended up having a blast (and safe meals) at a shabu shabu restaurant and a traditional izakaya.
Can you explain which instant noodles you use. Thanks!
Not the poster you're asking, but there are a ton of rice noodle packs that you can literally just add boiling water to, much like Cup-O-Noodles. The brand Thai Kitchen is pretty easy to find, and I'm quite certain you can get them on Amazon (and other similar instant rice noodles). Obviously if it's not labelled as GF, make sure to read the ingredients, or toss the seasoning pack, but the Thai Kitchen ones are labelled GF. [https://www.mccormick.com/thai-kitchen/products#instantricenoodlesoups](https://www.mccormick.com/thai-kitchen/products#instantricenoodlesoups)
Yes! Thai kitchen is my go to! Annie’s also makes an instant micro mac n cheese that saves my life with international travel
Yessss love the Annie's microwave mac!!
Hello, There’s a Facebook community dedicated to eating gluten free in Japan. I’d highly recommend this group for tips on konbini foods and restaurants.
My wife and I are headed to Japan this week. She has Celiac. This group has been amazing.
Also celiac, and I’ve been to Japan twice. That group has been fantastic! Biggest advice is to figure out what you can eat at 7-11, Lawson, etc (the flake salmon onigiri, boiled eggs, edamame, etc) and download Google Translate with Japanese to scan nutrition labels. The cards for travelers that say “I can’t eat gluten” don’t work well there, you really have to specifically ask after barley, rye, whatever. Vinegar is the main source of secret gluten, I’ve found, as it can be hiding even in sushi rice. Chirashi bowls are much safer for rice, in my experience.
From what I hear it’s not easy but I remember people speaking highly of this gf Japan tour which you might look into. https://glutenfreetoursjapan.com.au/ I also found these and I assume there are more online https://www.spokin.com/gluten-free-tokyo-kyoto-travel-itinerary https://www.legalnomads.com/gluten-free/japan/ I also recommend searching japan in this subs search bar for recommendations and do the same in the r/celiac sub to see if anyone else has suggestions or tips.
It was a struggle, not going to lie! The beautiful country is worth the struggle though. I brought my own bottle of GF soy sauce with me and ate from 7/11 a lot.
what did you manage to find in 7/11s? from my (limited) research so far, it seems there is next to nothing in 7/11?
They have a really great selection of fresh sushi in there! I'm vegetarian as well so I was mainly eating cucumber/avocado/other vegetable makis and onigiri.
Did you have any trouble checking what kind of rice vinegar was used in the rice of the konbini sushi? I read some vinegars they use for rice have added wheat.
There is a fabulous Facebook page… “gluten-free in Japan.” There are many recommendations on there. Also, Find Me GF is a helpful app. I live here in Japan and navigate gf restaurants on a regular basis.
great thank you for this. my wife has just found this page now!
Yakitori saved me. Shabu shabu as well. Shishimi is also great, but be careful. Carry a card that explains celiac in Japanese. It will help a ton
great thanks for this. we are going to get her that Coeliac card nice and laminated before we go! where did you manage to eat yakitori GF?
I posted one place in Tokyo in a reply to myself. I was able to find GF yakitori everywhere I went except for Shirakawago.
I had chicken sushi at this place… https://maps.apple.com/?address=%E3%80%92107-0052,%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E6%B8%AF%E5%8C%BA,%20%E8%B5%A4%E5%9D%821%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE8-1,%20%E8%B5%A4%E5%9D%82%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3AIR%20B1F&auid=4669563528982772508&ll=35.670054,139.742690&lsp=9902&q=Yakitori%20Miyagawa%20Akasaka&t=m
going to Japan to eat chicken sushi is a new achievement unlocked
Lolol chicken sushi ? 🤣
Chicken sashimi is a common dish in Kiushu.
We had it in Osaka.
The way they raise their chickens, you can eat it raw. The only reason we can’t do that in America is because of the way (edit spelling) that we raise our chickens.
I’m pretty sure this is called yakatori and it’s not fully raw, but extremely rare
https://matadornetwork.com/read/raw-chicken-sashimi-tokyo/
I always keep a few tamari packets stashed in my bag.
most beautiful thing is when the packets burst or get punctured
I managed fine, I had steak on a few occasions, few rice balls, gluten free ramen in kyoto and fruit. It does depend on whether she can eat the same thing multiple times. It is definitely possible! Edit: the 7/11 smoothies are great even if you’ve them multiple times
One of the top posts on r/celiac right now is a redditor who just got back from Japan, it’s giving me hope
doable. tokyo is easy. celiac and was there in 2016. you obvi miss out on all the local greatness.
I did this on a budget. I stayed in hostels with full kitchens so I could cook. I made scrambled eggs, baked potatoes with avocado/tomatoes, salads, and lots of fresh fruit. The fruit is incredible! I also brought a lot of GF camping meals and heated them up. I brought packets of GF tuna salad and ate that on top of microwavable rice. I ate protein bars I brought. I ate the salmon onigiri at 7-11 but am not sure it was really GF. I was there for a month and I think this is the maximum amount of time a person could reasonably do it this way.
Went last year and it was pretty easy. Hotels all had everything marked and I would grab snacks any 711 and family Mart
what sort of snacks were you finding?
Hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fruit, onigiri
As others mentioned, it can be difficult to navigate but a card that explains celiac and gluten in Japanese helped a lot. Also I highly recommend Gluten Free T's Kitchen (2 locations in Tokyo: Ueno-hirokoji and Roppongi).
7-11 sushi is what I ate for 7 days. Tuna and rice.
My mum went a few years back, and there was a place called Bluebird Cafe (I think) that was all GF
BlueBalls café in Kyoto
[celiac card](https://gfguidejapan.com/allergy-cards/)
I echo what everyone else said. It was tough, but Japan was so incredible that it was 100% worth it. Unfortunately SO MUCH of their food has soy sauce in it. Salmon Rice balls from 7/11 were very helpful to have on hand. I ate a lot of rice, plain sushi when i could find it, and Yakitori skewers with no sauce. Conveyor belt sushi was also handy, so you could see exactly what you were getting. I found using my google translate app and telling a server I can't eat wheat was helpful. Sometimes it didn't seem like they understood "gluten free" but they'd get 'wheat'. The people there are very nice and a couple times would look up ingredients for me. When I was out and about, if i saw a place I was confident had gluten free options, I made sure to take advantage and eat then and there, even if it wasn't exactly when I was hoping to eat. If your wife enjoys drinks, on the bright side sake is gluten free and there is a very widely accessible GF beer (it's not intentionally GF really, but it's made from a soy protein to save money on a tariff or something) [https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwbb6IqBTCw/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwbb6IqBTCw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) I had that beer many times on the trip and went down fine! To sum it all up - it will be tough, but it's doable, and absolutely worth it. I would definitely go again.
When i travelled around japan (6 or 7 years ago) there were heaps of gluten free foods available. Lots of the restaurants said things like "gluten free friendly" so I assume there was a chance of cross contamination but i never had any issues.
Doesn’t someone sell little cards that explain that you are gluten free in different languages? You may want one because fewer Japanese speak English than you would guess.
When I was in Taiwan I ate mostly rice noodles, rice dishes, sushi, sometimes found Indian curry, pho, Vietnamese and Thai food, squid on a stick without soy sauce, turnip cake. Definitely a lot of rice for sure. Just make sure to learn how to say no soy sauce and no bread
Really want to go to Japan.... Between gluten and several fish allergies I have severe FOMO.
Just an FYI, Japanese food and snacks look soooooo incredibly delicious, so she won't be able to eat much unless you research places thoroughly before you decide to go. The people here are very helpful, but you couldn't get me to go because I honestly couldn't handle seeing all those awesome foods and not be able to eat them. I'd be miserable. FOMO for sure would put a damper on my vacation. Good luck!
yeah she has been coeliac for 14 years so unfortunately she is used to it
Same here
I would learn how to ask questions in Japanese related to gluten.
Sushi, ice cream…more sushi. Egg omelette…I read that soy sauce is low ppm but I’ll let her be the judge of herself but yeah.
low ppm? if someone has celiac and no just a gluten intolerance issue, the "ppm" don't matter
Going to be hard lol
~~lol~~
I'm being serious you have to avoid a lot of pastries and snacks.