Recently I was asked by a reporter how do I maintain a green lifestyle. I did not take me long to think that amongst other environmentally conscious activities, practising vegetarian, or even eating less meat, is a good green effort. By not eating meat, we reduce the impact of livestock on the environment. Water pollution, over-grazing, loss of biodiversity and contribution to the carbon cycle due to processing and transportation of animal products are some of the impact of increasing livestock.
Having lived in Japan for a year, I realised the difficulty in getting vegetarian food in the country, as most stocks are prepared using bonito (a smaller relative of the tuna), and some kind of meat is almost always present in the meals on the menu. This is because Japanese restaurants are usually not familiar with vegetarian food. For a long time, fish has been an important ingredient in Japanese cuisine. How to cook fish has always been a test of Japanese chefs' professional skills.
Ironically, Japan is home to the one of the most exquisite vegan cuisine called Shojin Ryori 精进料理, a kind of Zen Buddhism cuisine. You can read more about this in this article:
http://www.vegietokyo.com/info4vegie/articles/article4-shojin.html
This article is found in a website which also lists some vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Tokyo. I am glad to have found this website and would like to recommend this to you.
http://www.vegietokyo.com/info4vegie/articles/article2.html
