As readers of aduki will be aware, Melbourne’s vegan and vegetarian community is pretty lucky when it comes to shopping and eating-out options. The city has a wealth of fresh, affordable and readily available food options, such as staples like tempeh and tofu, organic fruit and veg and even a ubiquitous vegan beer. There’s a broad range of places to dine at as well – from cafés and take-away places to fine dining restaurants. Awareness and acceptance of the vegan lifestyle is increasing all the time. 

So Melbourne has animal-free lifestyles covered, but how do our vegan friends in other parts of the world fare? The Japanese have a very healthy image when it comes to diet but are they vegan-friendly?

Joanne Madden, who lives in Osaka, finds that eating out can be a challenge because the concept of veganism is not widely understood. 'Being vegetarian is not so strange, but not common either,' Joanne says. 'Being vegan on the other hand... well, I haven't met any other vegans – they don't even have a word for it in Japanese.' 

Maintaining her diet in Osaka can be difficult as vegan food isn't always easy to come by. The language barrier can cause problems, and Joanne finds the ubiquitous use of fish stock, common in Asian cooking, to be a major pain. 'But the hardest thing is not being able to read labels – a nightmare for a vegan!'   

However, if you're organised and prepared to cook a lot of your own meals it's still possible to live in Japan and remain vegan. Organic fruit and vegies are around but can be really expensive and the range is often limited.  Yet, good quality food is available, and seeking it out is well worth the effort.  

Joanne sources much of her food from a macrobiotic restaurant and store, a natural food market and by mail order from Warabe Mura, an organic whole-foods outlet. She also has a few firm favourite restaurants where she likes to eat and has found that being vegan in Japan has its own rewards. 'There is a lot of great macrobiotic and traditional Japanese food available if you make the effort to find it', she says. So while being vegan in Japan sounds challenging, Joanne has shown that it’s certainly possible.  

It’s also possible to be vegan in London, where Rita Dore-Smith has been living for a few years. In fact, there is a wide understanding and acceptance of vegan and vegetarian lifestyles in London. Rita doesn't find maintaining her animal-free diet difficult at all. But it didn't always look so rosy, and things were tough when she first arrived. 'It did take a while to find all the right places. I stressed out when I first got over here and didn't eat much for the first few weeks because it all looked horrible,' Rita says. 'I guess I've come a long way since then.' 

London is coming a long way as well, shedding its reputation for stodgy cuisine. 'England is improving and beginning to understand quality and good food,' Rita says. She thinks it's exciting that new restaurants, cafes and fast food places that cater for vegos are popping up all the time, making it easier and easier to be anywhere in London and get a quick bite on the run that's also healthy. Plus, most restaurants also offer meat-free dishes to cater for vegetarians.  

Rita finds that little local street markets and bigger places like Borough Market are the best places to shop, and they work out to be quite cheap also. She avoids buying fresh foods from supermarkets because they have so much packaging and she loves her 'little Asian supermarket in Chinatown for greens and other bits'. Hmmm, so far it all sounds quite like Melbourne. So what's the downside? 

'The hardest thing is finding basic ingredients in run of the mill supermarkets, and when you do find them they are rather expensive. It takes a while to learn where to buy things... or just learn to live without stuff,' Rita says.  

Expense is a key problem in London, and eating good quality vegan stuff all the time can get pretty pricey. Shops like Fresh & Wild and Holland & Barrett sell all those necessary fillers and pantry items but can have a high price tag to match. Cost aside though, Rita thinks that there are no major issues with being a vegan in London – as long as you know the right places to eat.  

When you're on holidays it's usually pretty easy to get by on a vegan diet, even though it might be limited at times. However, if you're considering moving to another country then it's a different story altogether, as you will naturally want – and need! – a diet that is as varied, healthy and sustainable as the one you have at home.  

Both Joanne and Rita didn't always find maintaining their diets easy when they first moved to Osaka and London, but once they settled in and began exploring all the options available it became much simpler.  

'Apparently most people who move to Japan give up on being vegan or vegetarian,' Joanne says. 'I guess you need some degree of commitment to not compromise your beliefs and lifestyle.'  

If you're considering a move, research is key, and with thousands of sites and blogs dedicated to veganism it's becoming easier to find out about the best places to shop and eat in almost any city in the world. A good first stop is often the vegetarian or vegan society in any given country. Making contact with people who are living there already will give you a realistic impression of what to expect; do be prepared to take a little bit of time to settle in and get your food-related bearings. 

So how do Osaka and London compare to vegan-friendly Melbourne? Well, Melbournians are spoilt for food choices but the basic elements of being a vegan in these three cities sound the same – with a little organisation, commitment and local knowledge it's easy to maintain the lifestyle. 

WORDS: Lisa Dempster