TOKYO, Japan Wire – For many foreign visitors to Japan sushi is an essential dining experience and a restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward is making sure that vegan and vegetarian diners do not have to miss out.
Late morning on a weekday in August and the tables at Vegan Sushi Tokyo are quick to fill with diners. On the menu, a 10-piece vegan sushi set which includes shiitake mushroom and vegan meat served in the classic nigiri sushi style, and tuna-mayonnaise topped with salmon roe wrapped in seaweed in the gunkan style.
It has been just over a year since Shu Kudo and his vegan colleagues opened Vegan Sushi Tokyo, what Kudo says is the first restaurant in Tokyo to specialize in vegan sushi. While the combination of vegan and sushi might appear a contradiction to many Japanese, the speed at which tables are filling suggests the appetite is there, particularly among foreign diners.
Shu Kudo, CEO and founder of Vcook Inc., poses for a photo at Vegan Sushi Tokyo in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Aug. 14, 2025. (Japan Wire)
Kudo, 26, became a vegan nine years ago over concerns about animal rights and environmental issues. In 2020, he founded Vcook Inc., a startup offering a recipe-sharing platform, among other services aimed at supporting vegans in Japan. When foreign visitors began returning after the COVD-19 pandemic, Kudo was conscious of the challenges that the vegans and vegetarians among them faced.
Before opening Vegan Sushi Tokyo in June 2024, Kudo said he talked with around 100 vegans and vegetarians who had come to Japan. “They encountered a lot of problems. One was that they wanted to eat sushi but were limited to things like ‘kappamaki,’ or cucumber sushi roll,” he said.
The menu, however, is not an effort to recreate the typical sushi experience. “We are not setting out to offer the same flavors. In fact, there are flavors that we can create because this is vegan food.”
Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2025, shows a vegan sushi set served at the restaurant Vegan Sushi Tokyo in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. (Japan Wire)
Looks can be deceiving though. The shrimp tempura looks so much like the real thing that Kudo sometimes has to explain to diners that they don’t need to discard the tail, which is made of carrot.
Dessert is also available. Among the options, the vegan and gluten-free dorayaki – sweet azuki bean paste sandwiched between two small pancakes – is a rarity in Japan, according to the restaurant.
AloJapan.com