Vegetarian card in Japanese
Print a card that states your vegetarian requirements in Japanese and, just as importantly, spells out the part Japanese kitchens do not expect.
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This tool only prints what you type. It gives no medical advice, makes no diagnosis and guarantees no translation of anything you write yourself.
What the card says
The Japanese side reads 私はベジタリアンです。肉と魚、魚介類を食べません。 — "I am vegetarian. I do not eat meat, fish or shellfish.". Beneath it comes the sentence that does the real work: 和食のだしの多くは、かつお節や煮干しなど魚からとっています。だしにも魚を使っていない料理を教えてください。
The part that catches people out
Most Japanese stock is made from bonito flakes or dried sardines. Please tell me which dishes use no fish, including in the stock. Saying only the headline word is what produces a "vegetarian" dish simmered in bonito stock, so the card always prints the caveat with it.
Where to use it
Hand it over when you sit down rather than when the food arrives. Izakaya and set-menu restaurants often cannot change a dish once it is plated, but they can steer you to something else off the same menu if they know first. Ryokan dinners need more notice still — tell them when you book.
Printing and privacy
Ten wallet-size cards fit on one A4 sheet at 91 by 55 millimetres, with cut lines. Print at 100 percent scaling. Nothing you tick or type is uploaded — the PDF is assembled by JavaScript inside your own browser tab.
What this card is not
This page gives no medical advice: the generator prints exactly what you tick and nothing is checked, diagnosed or professionally translated on your behalf.
Frequently asked questions
Is vegetarian food easy to find in Japan?
It is far easier than a decade ago in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and still difficult in small towns and at ryokan set dinners. Convenience stores, shojin-ryori temple restaurants and the larger chains are the reliable fallbacks; a card makes the difference at everywhere else.
Why does the card print two sentences instead of one?
Because the headline word alone is routinely misread here. Most Japanese stock is made from bonito flakes or dried sardines. Please tell me which dishes use no fish, including in the stock.
Can I combine this with an allergy?
Yes. On the main dietary card page you can tick allergens and a diet together, and both sets of sentences go on the same card in a sensible order.
Does the site keep a copy of my card?
Nothing you tick or type is uploaded — the PDF is assembled by JavaScript inside your own browser tab.