Asakusa is a historic Tokyo district known for the Senso-ji Temple. It is also famous for “TABEARUKI,” which means eating while walking. Eating vegan in Japan can be super tricky even for Japanese.
Here are some of my findings on vegan snacks in Asakusa and some tips.
Lets get started!
Vegan fruits Sandwich
I notice that fruit sandwiches are getting so popular globally – sandwiches with fruits and whipped cream, which seems to be the invention of Japan. I hardly ever ate these when I lived in Japan but since I see these more and more on social media, now I want to eat them! And yes, they are tasty.
The great thing is that the vegan version of the fruit sandwich is available! Thanks to the surge in the popularity of fruit sandwich.
Last year, I had a vegan strawberry sandwich at Komeda which was pretty nice.
Pineapple 700 yen & Strawberry 800 yen
My hubby’s choice is the most popular fruit sandwich – strawberry.
I wanted to eat a non-strawberry one (there was a strawberry and azuki beans combo sandwich too) and the pineapple looked so thick and ripe and called me and I chose pineapple which turned out sooo good!
The pineapple was a very thick piece super ripe, sweet goes well with a generous amount of whipped cream. I don’t know why this is 100 yen cheaper than the strawberry one.
The store – so close to Senso-ji, the main Asakusa attraction
You can sit on cute fruit cushions and eat. Vegan soft serve is also available.
If you visit Asakusa, pls try this Japanese fruit sandwich.
Hatoya’s Vegan Fruit Sandwiches
A fruit sandwich shop offers a variety of seasonal fruit sandwiches such as melon, pineapple, and strawberry. All cream and bread are vegan.
Address: 2 Chome-3-3 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan
Strawberry sweets
For some reason, strawberry sweets are so popular in Asakusa.
Left: Soratsuki – Strawberry sweets speciality shop Right: Candied strawberry specialised shop
I got a strawberry dango that looked perfect on Instagram at Asakusa Soratsuki. This place specialises in strawberry Dorayaki but now the main item for this shop is strawberry dango. In my Asakusa search, this dango is always featured. So I got a cute, Insta-good-looking (I am sure there is a term for this) dango, the squared mochi ball.
Various flavoured strawberry Dango
My pick – strawberry + four different flavours of bean paste: Mango, strawberry, Matcha, sweet red bean paste, 350 yen
Taste? Interesting – different flavours in one skewer dango is unusual but to tell you the truth.
The mochi isn’t that fresh, and pricy (well, if I came here from Sydney straight, I would think that is a bargain but I spent 3 weeks in Japan until this, so I know the real price and freshness of dango)
Still, if you like super cute dango which can’t be found in regular Wagashi, the Japanese sweets shops, please give it a try.
Asakusa Soratsuki
For traditional Japanese desserts, visit Asakusa Soratsuki for dango with various sweet toppings and giant mitarashi dango with sweet soy sauce glaze.
Address: 1 Chome-36-4 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan
FREE GREEN TEA at Ito en Stand
After eating a couple of items, you get thirsty. Then you can find free ryokucha, the green tea at an Ito en booth in Senso ji – near a public toilet.
Left: Free tea booth Right: Tea with mascot
When I got this, there was no queue then, I saw later on there was a long queue. It is a small cup, so if there is a long queue, maybe no need to queue.
Imo yokan!
Imo yokan is a Japanese sweet made from sweet potatoes and Asakusa is the origin of imo yokan. I used to buy imoyokan whenever I went to Tokyo. This place is the oldest.
Imo Yokan Store
There are few sweet potato specialists in Asakusa and Funawa?is probably the most famous shop and oldest Imo Yokan shop in Tokyo (since 1902).
The signature yokan has been on sale since 1903. It does not contain any preservatives or artificial flavouring. Just sweet potato, sugar and agar.
Funawa Honten in Asakusa, established in 1902, is renowned for its sweet-potato pastes. The first floor sells various sweets, while the second-floor café offers desserts in a modern setting, just a five-minute walk from Asakusa Station.
Funawa Asakusa
Address: Shin Naka-mise Dori (At a corner of Orange Street)
Funawa – Main Branch
Warm Kibidango
Kibidango is a traditional Japanese sweet made from millet flour and rice.
You can have warm kibi dango ( from 5 skewers ) coated heavily with kinako, the roasted soybean powder. They also sell cold matcha.
Left: Kibidango Right: Matcha green tea
5 Kibi dango 400 yen; Cold matcha ( slightly sweet) 200 yen
Asakusa kibidango Azuma
Enjoy freshly made kibidango with cold green tea in the summer or sweet sake in winter here.
Address: 1 Chome-18-1 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032
Rice crackers
You can find some rice cracker places where you can actually see when they are baking. If you are lucky, you can have warm rice crackers.
Left: Rice cracker guy Right: Rice cracker
Wagashi
For vegan choice, it is safe to go for wagashi, the tradicional Japanese sweets. Such as warabi mochi, strawberry daifuku (sometime there are custard daifuku which is not vegan so go for red beans to be safe).
Warabi mochi, kuzu manjyu, strawberry daifuku…
Kaminari Okoshi
Kaminari okoshi is a traditional Japanese snack made from puffed rice, sugar, and syrup.
Right beside Kaminari mon, there is a Kaminari okoshi shop called tokiwado where live demonstration is happening, you can see how Kaminari okoshi is made and also you can taste freshly made Kaminari Okoshi.
Kaminari Okoshi
Tokiwa do
Address: 1 Chome- 3-2 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032
Check out my reel how Kaminari okoshi is made!
Don’t forget to visit the A retro shopping arcade
I must say, buying wagashi in shopping arcchade is cheaper and fresher than food stalls in Senso ji area . I saw quite a few wagashih shops that sell dango, manjyu, daifuku etc
Cat-shaped rice crackers
I found a very interesting Cat rice cracker shop.
Rice cracker shop
Cat shaped rice cracker
This old senbei (Japanese rice cracker) shop from 1940, located in Asakusa, sells the cutest cat-shaped senbei using traditional baking.
Izumiya
This quaint sembei shop offers a variety of rice crackers in glass jars, including sweet zarame, spicy ookara, and hard genkotsu. The selection here is larger than the nearby Nakamise Dori shop.
Address: 1-1-4, Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Maybe Asakusa’s mascot is cat … that is why cat rice craker???
Cat mascot
TIPS
In summary, it is always a great pick if you go for Wagashi, the traditional Japanese sweets but be very careful some “manjyu” style wagashi might contain eggs, and some “Fusion” wagashi quite often contains custard cream.
Also, the Japanese rice crackers are pretty awesome. Again, some rice crackers do contain seafood, especially prawn, so again, just stick to simple ones like soy sauce-flavoured, seaweed, and salt.
Happy vegan snacking in Asakusa!
You can check out my Instagram reel HERE or click on the image below!
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