Is Japanese Buddhist Cuisine the Secret to Sustainability?

One of Japan’s oldest culinary traditions — shojin ryori — could become a hot topic in conversations around the future of food. The plant-based Buddhist cuisine — popularized by restaurants like the Michelin-starred Daigo in Tokyo — “offers hints” about sustainability.

Chef Yusuke Nomura, the fourth-generation owner-chef of Daigo in Minato Ward, says that visitors to Japan are increasingly seeking meaningful experiences over material goods. “We don’t need to have the tallest building in the world; we should focus on sharing Japanese culture and history,” he said, speaking at a press event organized by the Tokyo Food Promotion 2024 Executive Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on December 16, 2024. Shojin ryori, which is vegetarian dining in the exquisite kaiseki style, checks that box.

Nomura, who is a Tokyo Tourism Ambassador, is seen as something of a trailblazer. A certified sommelier who has also trained at a French restaurant, the star-studded chef is passionate about “evolving” shojin ryori — all while keeping it fun. The most important thing about a meal, he says, is that you enjoy it; if you can serve food that is both pleasing on the eye and palate, you can awaken people to “new” ideas, like plant-based diets, and mindfulness. That’s why he recently opened a cute little vegan donut shop called Oscar Wilde, as a side business.

What is special about shojin ryori?

Shojin ryori, which was originally imported from China — along with Buddhism — in the 13th century, places great emphasis on the small details of a meal. Using locally sourced seasonal ingredients and beautiful arrangements, you are invited to savor the unique time and place that you find yourself in while eating. Every part of the experience is intentional; nothing is wasted. Shojin ryori is what monks typically eat, so you get the drift. It’s most commonly found in Kyoto, today.

With shojin ryori, you might sit down to a starter of roasted, foraged veggies wrapped in a dry magnolia leaf — a tasty dish that invites an appreciation of both the fall season, and sustainability. A jelly-like dessert made mostly of water from Mount Fuji, arranged to reflect the full moon, serves a theme of simplicity and purity to the guest. “Our distinctiveness, in Japan, lies in the water we use,” says Nomura. “We are, after all, a country of water.” You don’t often stop to think about just how delicious water can be — or how little you really need in a sweet treat — until you taste something like this.

Note: Usually, no animal products are used in shojin ryori, though at Daigo bonito broth may be used in some dishes, so you need to request a fully vegetarian meal.

Tokyo focused on sustainability and diversity

Sustainability and diversity are key themes for Tokyo going into 2025, as the world-renowned foodie city looks to protect its rich culinary heritage, while tackling issues of food loss and waste, and making itself more welcoming to visitors of all kinds. Tokyo — which has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world, clocking a grand 170, has a strong — and diverse — dining culture that dates back to the Edo era.

Edo foodies

Nomura explains that the Edo period offered enough peace that citizens could actually focus on the pleasures of food, instead of simple survival, for the first time in a long time. The capital city of Edo, today’s Tokyo, was home to approximately 1 million people, dwarfing big Western cities like Paris at the time.

The diversity of different residents, who came from all over Japan, contributed to a multi-dimensional dining culture, or shokubunka, in Edo that included everything from cheap street stalls to izakaya and fancy ryotei restaurants for feudal lords. Japan excitedly started its culinary rankings during the Edo period — a tradition that continues today (just turn on the TV, and you’ll see what we mean).

Edo-era delights included white rice (widely available for the first time, it became so popular that people would eat an entire pot a day, by themselves), senju leeks, komatsuna greens, yellowtail, tofu (and lots of it), sweet miso, and natto, among many, many other dishes. Cooking become more and more innovative over the years, and Japanese cuisine would eventually be listed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2013.

More restaurants than you could visit

Fastforward to present-day Tokyo, and you’ll find nearly 140,000 restaurants* in the metropolis — with a huge variety of cuisines and price points. “It’s incredibly diverse,” says Nomura. “You can find food from all around the world here — literally anything and everything from Chinese to Iranian, as well as regional Japanese soul foods. It’s one of Tokyo’s unique ‘charm points’.”

Also read:

• Tokyo’s Top Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants
• Mount Koya: A Visitor’s Guide to Japan’s Most Sacred Site
• Staying Zen: 5 Ways Japan Will Nurture Your Soul
• Saving Money at Kien — Michelin-Star Kaiseki Restaurant in Akasaka

*Estimated.