Halal food in Tokyo and Japan: shops and restaurant, how to eat for a muslim

tunimaal 19 May 2011 16

Cet article est aussi disponible en: French

You are Muslim and you are, or you will go to, Japan. You want to eat Halal to respect your religion but you don not know if that’s possible? Let me reassure you right away: Yes it is possible, and I know what I mean, because I myself am Muslim belief and I eat Halal. Here is how to do it.

Today I will speak to some people who have different dietary needs. These needs are especially due to strong religious beliefs. If I decide to write an article dedicated to this theme, it’s because I’m Muslim belief and I know how it can be hard to eat Halal when travelling. Halal food in Japan, it is possible to get it, contrary to what many imagine. And I will show in this article how. But first let’s start with an explanation of Halal.

What is Halal?

First and foremost, to answer any questions from everyone, I offer a brief reminder on what is Halal.

The term Halal in Islam means AUTHORIZED. Are otherwise the word HARAM (forbidden). You should know that the term Halal does not apply only to food, contrary to what many think, but to all the behaviour of a Muslim. Simply put regard to food, will be considered Halal the following kind of food:

Which are good for health and for taste

For meat, it must be slaughtered in the name of God, bled to death, with the greatest for the animal, without torture and without the sacrifice before his fellows, while the direction of Mecca.

Not be eaten by greed, or large quantities

Which contain no pork or alcohol, even in minute quantities (even when cooked)

Here are the main rules for the Halal food.

sushi plates tsukiji market tokyo japan 300x200 Halal food in Tokyo and Japan: shops and restaurant, how to eat for a muslim

Sushi – Tsukiji Market

Halal food in Tokyo and Japan: yes you can!!!

Now back to our Halal food in Tokyo and Japan. Here, it is very easy to eat Halal food said, since a large part of the diets is based on fish (mostly halal allowed foor, with certain exceptions). So just get into any restaurant or store and you can easily feed yourself. Regarding meat, you will know a little more difficulties, given that the Japanese know little or nothing about Muslim culture and religion. In addition, the number of practicing Muslim site will make your choices less important (there would be a little less than 1% of the Japanese population who are Muslim). But still, know that there are some restaurants and stores offering Halal products of all kinds. You can find them all over Tokyo, by walking in the streets, either by searching on Internet. The only problem is that these stores are small and choice is very limited.

Halal food in Japan: advice to not do any mistakes

Now, what I can propose you is some basic advice to be sure not to make mistakes. They are :

When you enter a restaurant, if the Halal logo is not displayed, simply ask the vegetarian dishes or based on fish, and the menu for soft drinks. This will simplify the task, and you will avoid mistakes. Often in restaurants the waiters speak some English or they have English menu.

When you shop, it gets a little harder. Few people speak English in stores. Moreover, on all products, information is only in Japanese. It can be very difficult to identify and make the right choice. So you can help by viewing images on the products and the general appearance of it. Often the products based on fish or vegetables have a logo of fish, seafood or vegetables. More, the colour codes are quite recognizable (pink and orange often means fish, green vegetables). If you are unsure, ask questions to employees.

If you are Muslim and you come to Japan, it is better to speak at least English. Otherwise it will be uphill battle for food. But however to simply your life, I will give you words of Japanese vocabulary, to help you out.

Chanko Nabe

To eat Halal in Tokyo and Japan: some Japanese vocabulary can help

When you arrive in a new country, it’s always good to know some basic vocabulary. Especially when you have a specific diet. Here is a list of useful Japanese vocabulary for people of Muslim faith.

In general

I am Muslim: WATASHI WA ISURAMUKYÔTO DES(U)

At the restaurant

Soft Drink: SOFUTO DORINKU

Is there a Halal restaurant near here? KONO CHIKAKU NI ISURAMUKYÔTO NO TAME NO HARARU ARIMAS(U) KA?

What is inside this dish? DOKO GA OSUSUME DES(U) KA?

At the store

Where can I find the fish department? SAKANA NO KÔNA WA DOKO DES(U) KA ?

Is this a product without animal? KORE WA DÔBUTSUSEI SEIBUNNUKI NO SHOKUHIN DES(U) KA?

I hope this article will be useful and if you have more specific questions, or even comments, you can contact me at anytime.

TAGS » halal food in japan, halal food in tokyo, halal restaurant tokyo, halal shop tokyo

POSTED IN » Tips

About the author: tunimaal View all posts by tunimaal

Je m'apelle Aala et en Novembre 2009 j'ai décidé de parcourir le monde. Pour ce faire j'ai créé mon propre concept de voyages: Teach Me World Tour. Je me suis rendu dans différents pays tels que le Maroc, Hong-Kong, Macao, l'Australie, la Nouvelle-Zélande, le Canada, les USA et le Mexique..En mai 2011, je suis arrivé au Japon sans aucune connaissance sur ce pays et me suis lancé le défi de le découvrir et de vous en faire partager mon expérience.

Twitter - Facebook

16 Comments »

PinkuJessy 20 September 2012 at 22 h 24 min - Reply

I really love this article and thank you very very much for this!
When I was in Japan I was searching for any Muslims so that they could help me out but it wasnt easy at all and in the end I only met a turkish guy who told me there where a mosque in Shibuya but I never had the chance to visit it ;/
- tunimaal 27 September 2012 at 14 h 53 min - Reply
  
  Yeah it is not always easy. There are not so many muslims but there are some. Most of them are Turkish actually.
Sid Feinleib 20 January 2013 at 9 h 18 min - Reply

Where can I buy Turkish groceries?
Example: Tamek or other brand tomato paste. I am 15 minutes from Shibuya and Shinjuku. 50 min to Ueno and Ikebukuro.

Thanks for the help
- tunimaal 10 February 2013 at 6 h 41 min - Reply
  
  Hi Sid Feinleib,
  
  if you go to a kebab restaurant and you ask the owner where you can buy Turkish products they will tell you.
  
  They are usually Turkish owners and really nice and helpful. Actually i always do that when i wanna find a special kind of food
ata 26 January 2013 at 0 h 14 min - Reply

Hi,

I read your blog about halal food in Japan. I will going to Tokyo tomorrow so I think the best way is directly contact you. Is there any HALAL restaurant that serve Japanese cuisine like sushi/bento? I tried to search on but only found an Indonesian food restaurant, Pakistani food restaurant but no one show where to get HALAL sushi in Tokyo.

Thanks!
- tunimaal 10 February 2013 at 6 h 42 min - Reply
  
  Hi,
  
  so far, as I know, I never seen this kind of place here in Japan.
  
  Mostly, Halal shops and restaurants sells only foreign products.
Tsukiji 16 February 2013 at 17 h 20 min - Reply

Salam,

There are two restaurants in Tokyo where you can eat halal Yakiniku, one in Shibuya and the other near Roppongi as well as a location in Shibuya that serves halal Shabu-Shabu. The restaurants themselves are Japanese-owned but a Malaysian company has made arrangements to provide Muslims with a Halal course. You need to make a reservation at least two days in advance. I have eaten yakiniku at the Shibuya location and it was excellent.

More info here:

http://en.mhalalc.jp/yakiniku.html
- tunimaal 10 March 2013 at 11 h 16 min - Reply
  
  Thanks a lot for this information.
  
  I am going to go there and try them.
  
  Thanks again
dia 28 February 2013 at 2 h 45 min - Reply

Hi Aala,

a very interesting blog you have, I must say
I am, too, a muslim and I share the same halal main rules as those you mention.

as for ‘Which contain no pork or alcohol, even in minute quantities (even when cooked)’, I want to ask you, how about sake and mirin which are present in almost all Japanese food? from what I know it is even used to make the sushi gohan(rice), in the soup for most nabe/udon/etc., and what do you think of alcohol contained in the soy sauce?
Maybe from your experience, you can give me some advice on Japanese food that contains no alcohol and stuff.

Thanks in advance!
- tunimaal 10 March 2013 at 11 h 14 min - Reply
  
  Hello Dia,
  
  usually I try to ask at the restaurant for food that was not cooked with alcohol or meat. That is what I do. After, when I do grocery shopping I look at the ingredients and try to find out if there is any kanji that represent meat or alcohol ingredients. If there are none of them I buy the product.
  
  But trust me, if you don’t speak perfectly Japanese or don’t read it, it’s really, really difficult.
  
  What you can do, you can go to a mosque and ask them which products you can eat or not in Japan.
Muhamad Hassim Amad 1 March 2013 at 4 h 55 min - Reply

My wife and I will be in Tokyo from 6 to 9 May. Is it possible to get a local tour that caters for Muslim needs?

Thank you and wassalam
- tunimaal 10 March 2013 at 11 h 12 min - Reply
  
  Salam Oualikoum,
  
  I just sent you an e-mail.
ABDUL RASHID 17 March 2013 at 8 h 24 min - Reply

Assalaamu ‘alaikum: I am a director in travel agency in Kuala Lumpur. Can you please introduce for licenced/registered with Japan government for tour operators (muslim or non-muslim whom know islamic culture) in Tokyo. The operators should capable to provide Halal Food, muslim tour, GUIDE,hotel and transport. I can bring a group for them. Thank you
- tunimaal 19 March 2013 at 9 h 46 min - Reply
  
  Hello,
  
  I just answered to you via e-mail.
Shamima Matadar 27 March 2013 at 16 h 40 min - Reply

Salaams, could you please contact me via e-mail, there are a few questions I had regarding halal sushi…thank you!
- tunimaal 28 March 2013 at 4 h 07 min - Reply
  
  Hey, I just sent you an e-mail