Japan's First VEGAN Convenience Store TOUR! 🌱 Asakusa, Tokyo

Japan opened its first vegan convenience store in Tokyo recently - complete with vegan fried chicken, bento, onigiri, desserts and more! Join us for a tour of the shop and a review of some of the foods!
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#Japan #veganjapan #japaneseconveniencestore

[@muttmania]

So glad to see Japan getting more vegan options! T's Tantan is my favourite vegan place in Tokyo, best vegan ramen!

[@Sarah-eb9rz]

mutt T’s tantan is my favorite too!! I miss it a ton 😭😊

[@megantran19]

This definitely had old town general store vibes like in harvest moon lol

[@sharlainjapan]

Love that game😭❤️

[@xotoast]

Oh my god it doesssssss. Even the background music!

[@presea2000]

Love the game 💖

[@meepymoof]

I suddenly have a mighty need to plant some turnips.

[@reesemonster2478]

Every Vlogmas you make really puts me in the holiday mood when it doesn't feel like December. thank you for keeping up the vibes Sharla.

[@soju81]

One thing I appreciate about your videos is that you seem so authentic/sincere. Nothing seems forced. No overreacting like some other videos.

[@webaker]

I was in Japan last week and hate that I didn't know about this place til I got home! But honestly, HappyCow was a lifesaver, and I had so much great vegan food -- it was fairly easy to find in the big cities.

[@SammieSpeaks]

This is so cool!! Tho I wish they had more ready prepared foods like regular convenience stores, maybe with time they will expand!

[@sharlainjapan]

I looked through other reviews of it online and saw some more bento and hotcase food pics so it looks like they were just sold out of them while we were there! Looks like there’s quite a decent selection if you get there early enough!

[@travismoore7849]

I like Black lentil curry. I even use taco seasoning and lentils for salads. Are spices for curries and taco salads rare in Japan?

[@lonestray989]

That vegan store has such a charm! Loving the variety of this year's vlogmas! Thank you for your hard work and time you're putting into this 😊

[@angelicavalencia8997]

Your vlogmas this year is an early christmas present 👍🎁 love them!

[@sharlainjapan]

Thank you so much for watching!! 🥰💐

[@TheIslingtongirl]

Anything that begins "Norm and I" is a sure win.

[@PopescuSorin]

is Norm her boyfriend?

[@TheIslingtongirl]

Of course I'm totally biased as they are both adorable, they are both Canadian, and I'm Canadian too lol But it's a fun bias. I'd definitely wanna hang with them if I went to Japan!

[@lalaonsixthh1809]

~As faaar as I know~ they're just friends but have known each other for a long time.

[@Momoko524]

@@PopescuSorin Pretty sure she's married but I have no idea who her husband is.

[@Momoko524]

@@rxchels Aw that's a shame =( I don't watch her videos that regularly so I didn't know.

[@tdk97]

I'm excited to see more of what Japan does with the vegan movement.

[@QuiteDecent]

Indeed

[@Lady-In-Red159]

Have you check out peacfulcousin he is a Japanis vegan , I realy love his videos 👌🤩👌🤩👌❤🍀🦋🙏

[@caki3020]

you and Norm should make videos together more often, i like the vibe :)

[@sarahjane1354]

this made me strangely excited omg, it makes me excited that Japan is expanding its vegan world 🥺💗

[@confusedalterego]

My mom is vegetarian and she came to visit me when I was studying abroad last year and I felt so bad while trying to find places to eat... you would think that a country that had a whole “I will not eat meat” phase thanks to Buddhism there would be a few more options... but we managed for the two weeks she visited. It would have been nice to have one of these conbini at the time though! I would have loved for her to try more Japanese-style foods

[@ffionwilding1962]

I totally get how your Mum feels, I'm a Vegetarian and the past two times i've visited Japan I felt the same! you'd think there would've been more options for Vegetarians, at least ones that weren't just snacks or non Japanese cuisine, given as you said the Buddhist cultural history. I suppose at least it's improving :)

[@_Seileach]

"I will not eat meat" was not a traditional Buddhism thing. It's to not eat meats that were killed and butchered specifically for them. When they were out asking for alms, they eat whatever people give them, it's not a choice. The veganism of the religion wasn't added until it was spread to China.

[@confusedalterego]

@@_Seileach you're right, it was not a traditional Buddhism thing and it wasn't 100% like that, I was just simplifying something I learned in a class. Didn't even consider the veganism aspect at all however, so thank you for the additional information and clarification :)

[@vermillionrot]

@@ffionwilding1962 Do you know sites like Happycow and Vegewel? They list a lot of food places. Of course everything isn't Japanese cuisine but it's good to find something 😄

[@ffionwilding1962]

Aleksandre L I did get the happy cow app for when I go back out to Tokyo! I’ll have a look at the other thank you! X

[@TheCLouiseA]

Hey sharla, ive been watching your channel for years now and i just wanted to say thank you. The comfort your videos offer when im feeling lonely or depressed is great, its a familiar face and youre so comforting to watch. So thanks a million. 🙏🏻 Peace x

[@Ravienon]

Really enjoying the vlogmaas!! 🙌🏻

[@sharlainjapan]

Thank you Joni~☺️🎄

[@ghostwriter6455]

HECK YEAH the duo is back :3 I always love the two of you working together! Keep your awesome work up guys!!! :D

[@invisiblediner]

You in Iwate: "I'm running to the vegan convenience store". 13 hours later...."I'm home!" 😂 Seriously though it's a start. Happy to see one in Japan! 👍✌💕

[@TheNaomeister]

I think what's amazing is just how much variety there already is in products! I know it's been a movement for a while, it's great to see so much new stuff and so much variety coming out!

[@christinepease890]

so Happy to see Norm with you again, and really happy that the new Vrgan store is a hit with you, that crumble looked so yummy, popping over to norms video, Have a beautiful day Sharla x x

[@rinskydances93]

“So you’re not a terry’s orange chocolate fan?” “Oh fuck no those are gross” Hahaha one of Sharlas best moments

[@Nynke_K]

I love chocolate orange so much! And this reminded me that they're a Christmas thing in Norway, where I'll spend Christmas, so I hope I'll find some!

[@imolaunger]

No, they're so lovely! 🍫🍊

[@jamesfagan]

I lol’d so hard!!!!!

[@tdingman1988]

Thank you sharla for vlogmas. This time of year is always rough for me, but having your upbeat videos to look forward to gives me some relief from it all. Keep going girlie. :)

[@rielamarcellis]

Many shelves were empty or semi-empty, even if vegan is not super popular in Japan, this store must be with vegans, or is just the "new shop" effect, lol.

[@janellkamm1717]

This makes me soooo happy! As my loves are compassionate veganism & JAPAN!!! Thank you for this -- I'm smiiiiitten : ) Keep up the good work Sharmeleon! ありがとうございました！！

[@analennyja]

I love your vlogmas! Best way to count down for Christmas ❤

[@firepantheress9576]

It's so great to see you and Norm. Those sweets looks quite yummy. Cheesecake is always a win win

[@alphamike87]

I’d definitely try everything in that store, love the video Sharla, you and Norm are both awesome

[@icepriestess]

I really struggled when I was in Japan finding vegetarian food, especially as most savory things seemed to have oster sauce in it. So love seeing videos showing other options. Hopefully I'll get back to Japan one day and be able to try all these new options

[@hannahlise9120]

What a cute store! I hope they do well! Glad Norm could join you 🥰

[@alanlee1355]

Apple crumble doesn't have to be dry. I always have it with custard. Lovely.

[@viviantai6931]

So eager to watch your vid, that there aren't enough comments to read!!! Luv u Sharla~~

[@crazywaterbaby1]

Thank you for filming this! I’ve been vegan for 2 years & Japan is top of my travel bucket list! 🌱

[@coffinsandcoffee8202]

I literally JUST read an article on this today and screenshotted a bunch of it.... Thankyou!!

[@KitKatToeBeans]

Really cute that it’s a store yet there’s areas to eat AND to heat the food up 👍🏼

[@ambibambi6479]

This store’s existence will be a lifesaver for my trip to Tokyo

[@teknoYAY]

THANK YOU! Nice way to start the week from my favorite youtuber

[@andreaosorio7315]

So excited! I really enjoy your videos . I'm trying to learn more about Japanese culture, and I'm grateful for so many things that you share with your vloggers. Hope can I go to Japan soon.

[@zoof1306]

That's so cool! The facial expressions were lovely in this video lol

[@jewnie2372]

Norm is adorable, I'm glad he turned up for Vlogmas!

[@lindsaycordova91]

Happy to see Japan is starting to have more vegan options. Love that you are doing vlogmas 💙

[@libbytwzz2032]

Always love your videos (THANK YOU for your vlogmas vids, I’m sure it’s a lot of work) and it’s great to see Norm here as well! Another vlogger I love to watch. Always such a calm demeanor. In a good way. Always fun to watch. :D

[@rebeccas.2769]

I like watching you two on your adventures together 😊

[@sydneyjabba7498]

Ahhhh I've been loving these vlogmas vlogs so muchhhh! Thank youuuu

[@KittySingz]

Stop it with these types of videos, it makes me so hungry!!! 😭♥️ No but this is really cool. I hope they get more food-allergy friendly foods in japan too

[@Lestatsuxme1013]

Yay! Sharla and Norm combo back again!

[@bikkiikun]

I know that store, it's on Kappa Bashi Hondori (a side road of the Kappa Bashi Dori, where all the Kitchen and Appliance stores are). That's halfway between Ueno and Asakusa. The restaurant is in the same building, but the (separate) entrance is around the corner, I think.

[@CaldoDeJess]

Norm and Sharla!!! Yassss Team Canada. Come through 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

[@nobutaaaaaaaaa]

Terry’s chocolate oranges are tradition! It tastes better than those advent calendars xD Godiva FTW ❤️

[@caprinicole7932]

This was so fun to watch , I hope they keep it around and expand lol

[@secretssafewithme]

I won’t know what to do with myself when your vlogmas ends

[@hollyhenison9345]

If anyone's looking for vegan Japanese food in London, there's a food court in Japan Centre near Leicester Square that has loads of vegan bentos and sushi and sweets that are soooo good. Also the Longdan asian supermarket in Camden has a section of vegan meats (including the frozen ham from the video and duck in a can) that's totally different to the usual European stuff

[@VeganLiving247]

This is so cool! I can hope that more places in Japan gets stores like this! I visited Japan a couple weeks ago and it’s definitely pretty hard to get vegan snacks. I ate a bunch of mixed nuts, and the Calbee salted chips haha! Both tasty but would have loved more options.

[@cactustactics]

Aww I'm glad it was good, now you get to treat yoself! also high % chocolate can be really good, you can get some really intense fruity notes with no harshness - but you can get some cheap stuff that's like cocoa and sawdust too. I'm guessing that place has decent chocolate since they're pretty fancy, so it's probably safe to try at least!

[@Keirabug]

Dude orange and chocolate combos are CLASSIC! You almost can't go wrong! I'm shocked you think it's so gross lmao. Though im not a fan of those chocolate orange things, I'm a huge fan of the combo when its real orange.

[@lauragossert6282]

Yay, Norm! Love the videos when you two collaborate!

[@papasan12]

Omg yay! I was hoping to see you make a video of this!

[@becks5867]

The food looks gorgeous, vegan options usually always have so much flavour 🤩

[@fibbleglumpf]

What wonderful news!!! Thank you Sharla! I’m gonna go ASAP 😍🙏

[@kathrynt5899]

Hi Sharla, Hi Norm! I love you guys so much!

[@cookefamilyadventures1049]

I’m still convinced Sharla and Norm are soulmates

[@lilheven1238]

Merry Christmas and Joy to the World!!!

[@noemithebanana2979]

I'm so excited you shared this! Now I can try to make that vegan fried chicken recipe for Christmas! I hope they open one in Shinjuku!

[@QubedTeapot]

I saw an article about this a few days before your video came out. I hoped you would visit! The store's so cute 😍.

[@wendywardusncombatrn6953]

Great news for you Sharla!! I 💕🥣🤗

[@missfieldy321]

Really enjoy the videos with you and norm. Can’t beat a really good friendship that you can both bounce off each other ☺️

[@rainreammer7875]

Am I the only one who thinks that they look really good together? 🤔 Love your vlogs Sharla!

[@mogaliz2185]

Loving the vlogmas videos!!

[@madeye0]

I was surprised you said it's hard to find spicy food in Japan, I spent this autumn in Sapporo, visited couple curry places there and all the curries were spicy as hell

[@VeganHobbit]

Yaaay, thanks for sharing this Sharla! ❤️

[@m.malfoy5212]

Omg Sharla I loved your vid!🙌🏻 looks like such a cute store. Also I really miss the sleepover vids you and Tay used to do, where you would do iherb hauls and cook vegan stuff together and then watch movies together! I always loved those 😊

[@sharlainjapan]

I miss those too😭 wish I had some girl friends living close to me :(

[@m.malfoy5212]

Sharmander ugh, I can totally relate to that. 🥺 if only I lived in Japan lol. I bet we'd get along super well😂😊 you seem so chill and nice. Whenever I watch your vids I feel like I'm hanging out with an old friend, just gives me a homey, cozy feeling💖

[@snowwhite9435]

So nice to see you and norm together😊pleasee do more videos with himmmm😊😊😊

[@sarahfernandes1621]

Sharla and norm make such good content together. Wish I could share a meal with norm. He seems soo lovely!

[@Rose_from_UK]

I adore vegan meat balls. The best food at the Monet I love are Fry’s chicken nuggets and sausages. They are so addictive, and much healthier than the meat versions.

[@DramaQueenBiz]

So, in the middle of this Vegan-fest I was provided with an Arby's advert - (Arby's is an American food chain whose slogan is "we have meats"

[@KuroYukia]

It's " We ave THE Meats" I find the irony funny, youtube is against vegan and the veggie lovers lol ( JK... I hope)

[@Mother_of_Pigeons]

This is so exciting! :D I hope things like this keep spreading!

[@marie-claireerdynast8697]

That's so exciting! It's hard to find vegetarian foods in Japan. I would love if you did another Japanese cooking vlog for vlogmas! I always love more vegan Japanese recipe ideas!

[@DinosourousRexx]

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing Sharla 💕

[@monktondown]

I love your food videos!!!

[@hiyocrycry]

this is so cool! I wish we had more vegan convenient stores in europe😭

[@Start.a.curvolution]

I don't know where in Europe you are located but here in Northern Germany and at my family in UK it's very easy to get vegan stuff. In Germany even the smallest village with a supermarket has some vegan corner 😉 and there is at least one vegan restaurant in every city. Only in at my parents last trip in Bavaria it is hard to find someone stuff for my mother, but my mother is totally into fake meat/pork stuff for cooking, my husband and I cook without fake meat or pork, we use vegan milk and cream sometimes, but that's all

[@hiyocrycry]

Bettina Viola Barth so cool! I live in France, there is like those random soy steaks and vegan milk in the supermarket but if you want to have more special vegan food you have to travel to Paris (I’m in the suburbs) Still good tho cause few years ago there wasn’t any in supermarket :D

[@Start.a.curvolution]

@@hiyocrycry that's interesting. I lived in Paris In Bellevue for a few weeks in 2016 and it was really strange cause we couldn't find vegan ready to eat food or fake animal products at all, so we cooked a lot of rice and lenses and noodles with tomato sauce

[@spark_6710]

Wow ! Things have changed a lot ! When I was a vegan for 17 years back in '91 to '08 ...I had been to Japan several times & I'm Japanese living in U.S. , they had fair numbers of restaurants had vegan foods in Tokyo & Kyoto of course ! But they didn't have vegan sausages, yet there ! Or vegan margerine !

[@Sophia-jl7dy]

Ahhhh omg soo good!!! Thank you

[@Sarah-eb9rz]

How exciting to see and learn there’s a vegan convenience store!!! Times are seriously changing! Thank you for sharing ♥️♥️♥️

[@jules6259]

We make cashew 'cheese' cake at home. It doesnt taste like cheese cake, but still really good. I'd say it's still sweet with some tartness to it (no miso in it though 😂😂)

[@lisa3965]

yaaaay, thanks for showing this to us!! i'm vegan and visiting japan next year, so i'll def be checking out this supermarket

[@Emiilahh]

Love watching these every day! Thanks for keeping us updated. Love from Florida ❤️ and an early Merry Xmas!

[@goeticfolklore]

2:51 it’s also good to make bread with, I know your vegan so you probably don’t use it for this but as a vegetarian, like you said, it’s really good for B12. A lot of European countries actually sell bread already made from nutritional yeast for the B12 advantage.

[@chrislee7222]

thanks! Im DEFINITELY visiting that place in a few months when Im back in Japan. Thanks for the info Sharla! :)

[@BubsyMupsy]

Nooooorm! And Sharlaaaaa! Perfect!

[@ClaireUSMC99]

BTW it's great to see a Vlogmas from you today! Oh, and Norm's a cutie!!!

[@EponaKenshin]

My favorite thing is citrus-y desserts xD I love any dessert with orange in it

[@lofiCicada]

Merry Vlogmas day 9 to 2 of my favorite youtubers! :3

[@avanjou]

I'm really loving vlogmas ❤️

[@kellyclackum1310]

Hey Sharla, Well who better to do a good but Norm! Love Toyko Lens! I enjoyed the video! I noticed the other day when shopping that I knew something words & phrases that I only could have because of your channel, so Thanks! Keep up the good work! Bye Norm!!

[@ChaosCause3000]

So great, that vegan/vegetarian food is getting more popular. I felt so nauseous the first 2-3 weeks when I moved to Tokyo, because I didn't realize that almost all savory foods contain either meat or fish (especially dashi) , like even crackers, sauces, sautéed veggies. I also learned the hard way that veggie ramen does not mean vegetarian ramen 😅

[@savannahhamilton1268]

I love when you guys make videos together

[@hermimione]

this is so much fun! 😍 I'm also re-watching the other volgmas years you've done. The nostalgia!!! ✌ 😎

[@shaan8513]

I heard somewhere can't remember where that there is a Vegetarian butcher in Tokyo it is part of a vegetarian butcher chain from the Netherlands or maybe the closed the store in Tokyo. I can't live without eating meat but that butchers meat substitutes tastes great my fav was their chicken and their bacon bits when I was living in the Netherlands.

[@shallowsleep15]

That’s so cool! It seems like Japan is slowly catching on to the whole vegetarian/vegan thing.

[@JoleeKee]

Norm! Love videos with him in it.

[@jocelynwhitephotos]

That apple crumble looked so delicious! 😋 I really want to make some now!