Finding gluten-free bread in Tokyo

My first week in Tokyo was a delirious, 100 yen cold brew coffee-fuelled blur. Although I have been here twice before, so wasn’t expecting to feel any sort of culture shock, you can’t help but feel utterly overwhelmed upon arrival. It is easy to forget how vast a city with almost triple the population of the entire country you live in is. This trip is the longest I’ve stayed here by far, and although I have a fairly good sense of the subway system and know where to find decent espresso and cheap second-hand designer clothes (very important), there was one thing I was really not prepared for: Trying to find vegan, or even vegetarian, food. Having come previously as a tourist, I could afford to eat at restaurants for most meals, so it wasn’t such a struggle. Definitely not easy, but do-able. Staying for two months however, this was not a sustainable option.

The majority of my first three days in Tokyo were spent trawling through various supermarkets, convenience stores, food markets and bakeries hunting for gluten-free bread and a coffee filter. It was then that I realised everything I had taken for granted at home, easy access to affordable fresh fruit, hummus, falafel, honey, soy lattes, were rarities here. Comparable to the Victorian era, where wealthy people would import pineapples and other exotic fruits to impress their posh friends at dinner parties, fruit in Japan is given as a gift, more of a luxury than a daily staple. Only the most pristine, perfect specimen makes it onto the shelves, individually wrapped in styrofoam sheaths or elaborate gift boxes to protect them from bruising. Every strawberry is perfectly symmetrical, grapes are the size of plums, peaches are so flawless they look Photoshopped. And you certainly pay for it. Even the cheapest supermarkets in the basements of discount chain Don Quixote charge $80 NZD for a box of 12 oranges.

By the end of the week, I had managed to overcome my initial horror, found some local grocery stores with cheap avocados, procured a box of powdered hummus (better than nothing!), softened to the idea of seafood (what is the point of coming to Japan to eat nothing but onigiri?), and had found my beloved gluten-free bread. I have also discovered a vegan falafel joint, vegan delicatessen and salad bar within a stones-throw from my workplace.