Job Discussion Forums

[Dominique]

I was wondering if homeopathic medicine was available in Japan. What about organic foods or would I have to Tokyo to purchase these things?

[Celeste]

Organic food is in its' infancy in Japan. I am in Fukuoka, and I have found that there are a few stores that carry a few "health food" items, but not really a lot to choose from. Food labels here are a bit non-standard. Some have nutritional information- some don't. Some have calorie content information that conflicts with weight and other contents. You probably won't have to go all the way to Tokyo every time you want to buy something, but you may find yourself doing a lot of internet shopping if you have specific dietary needs.

[Gordon]

Try Tengu foods. Search for it on the internet and they have a catalogue they will send. Very expensive though.

[Eleckid]

Japanese are into organic food recently, & there are some organic grocery stores & buffet restaurants which serves organic food. At least in my area...I live in the small suburb of Ichinomiya in Aichi pref, & I can find organic products here (maybe cuz there's a lot of farms here too). But they're really expensive so I don't bother buying them. I think in general the food products in Japan are quite healthy. I wish I can buy bottles of healthy tea from vending machines in Canada...one reason why ppl in north america are so unhealthy!

[annae]

also try warabe mura, a small company in gifu that sells organic/vegan products. you can download their catalogue and order form from their website. most of their foods are japanese, which is great, and they even carry an all natural, vegan japanese curry roux! plus they sell earth-friendly household products and offer an organic vegetable box.

if you have a hankering for some western style organic fare, you can check out the foreign buyers club catalogue- i noticed they sell a wide range of amy's products, etc. very expensive though (1200 for a frozen vegan pizza - ouch!)

you may even be surprised by what you find in your supermarket. my favorite local store, nishio, carries organic imported goodies like blueberries and canned tomatoes.

in my area, kansai, there are several organic/veg restaurants, and this may be true for other areas as well. do an online search, or check out lonely planet japan, which you should get if you haven't already.
good luck!

[J.]

Tengu (aka Alishan) is expensive, but so is health food all over the world. The most expensive are the pre-packaged foods. Flours and other raw ingredients are a little less expensive. They will C.O.D. to your door in about a week and you can shop online and pay at a convenience store (after you get it). A cheaper alternative and one that might be in your neighborhood or city are the Anew stores. They have a lot of Japanese foods, but rice ( brown also, known as genmai) and oats, baking soda, and tree-free tissues as well as shampoo and detergents. It's all in Japanese but most things are easy to identify. The staff is friendly. To have a look, go to this site and look at the slideshow.

http://www.newfarm.org/international/features/0803/jp_org_retail.shtml