A Mexican couple, Betty and Joel, visited Japan for a 12-day honeymoon and told news outlets they struggled to find gluten-free food — and their comments became a hot topic on the 5ch forum. Some posters pointed out that since Japanese cuisine is built around dashi (soup stock) and rice, there are still options if you just avoid wheat, while others said it’s understandable that dedicated vegetarian or vegan menus remain scarce. The thread was dominated by a clash between the “when in Rome” crowd and those arguing that if Japan wants to profit from inbound tourism, it should accommodate foreign visitors’ dietary needs.
Struggling with the scarcity of gluten-free food
○ “I felt Japan wasn’t as developed as I expected” — Mexican couple baffled: what was it they “struggled to find”?
Betty and Joel came all the way from Mexico. The couple visited Japan on their honeymoon and stayed for 12 days. They too apparently found themselves puzzled when it came to meals.
Just ignore what foreigners say — these are the same people who eat nothing but ramen, sushi, and convenience-store rice balls and egg sandwiches, then turn around and complain that 'Japan has no vegetable dishes.'
3AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:18
Just eat a rice ball and be quiet.
4AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:21
Wait, is Mexico really such an advanced country when it comes to dietary diversity?
5AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:22
Japanese people's staple food is rice, so wheat is kind of beside the point.
6AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:24
The "vegan-cancel-gluten" crowd strikes again (a mocking meme tag for people who claim strict diets but don't actually follow them)
8AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:28
It's a dashi culture, you know.
10AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:34
Why do Muslims and vegetarians alike expect so much from Japan? Do your homework and go to a country that's actually set up for that.
11AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:35
Don't show me something this weird right before lunch!
12AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:40
Isn't Mexico's obesity rate one of the highest in the world?
13AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:43
I'd love to try Mexican Coca-Cola, supposedly the best-tasting in the world — made with real cane sugar instead of corn syrup or fructose.
14AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:47
Nobody's obligated to cater to you.
15AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:50
Isn't it normal for travel to come with some inconvenience, even within your own country? And this is a foreign country with a completely different history, culture, and people.
17AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:51
Is Mexico some perfectly accommodating country, then?
18AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:51
There's no tanmen for the likes of you! (a famous shouty catchphrase from a ramen manga)
20AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:53
There's a vegan restaurant near me — food's not great, but it's packed with foreign tourists every night.
22AnonymousSep 11, 2026 07:58
Re: #20
Guess if there's demand, the business model works.
32AnonymousSep 11, 2026 08:30
You lot should have to eat the pesticide- and additive-laden food we eat every day too!
33AnonymousSep 11, 2026 08:37
Eat the grass on the roadside and don't complain.
38AnonymousSep 11, 2026 08:46
If you're a picky eater, you're supposed to do your research before you go. If you went to Antarctica and were told it's meat or nothing, would you just starve to death?
40AnonymousSep 11, 2026 08:53
They should just stay at a temple with guest lodging (shukubo).
43AnonymousSep 11, 2026 08:58
Japan's future is as a weak-yen tourism nation, so anyone saying 'adapt to Japan' is an idiot. This is valuable feedback.
49AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:09
Re: #43
What are you talking about? This place is about to become Vietnam.
44AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:00
Japan's a poor country now — inbound tourism is basically its only income, so it has to accommodate foreigners.
50AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:11
If you want gluten-free, just eat rice. Sushi, for instance, is gluten-free.
52AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:13
About ten years ago, a wave of 'pesticide-free' and 'organic' health-conscious shops popped up, but they all folded fast.
Japanese people are pretty indifferent about food — they eat pesticides and additives without a second thought.
That's just the kind of country this is, so please just accept it.
53AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:14
Soba is gluten-free too as long as it's not cut with wheat flour, and there's tofu, natto, pickles — plenty of options.
56AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:18
So if I go to Mexico, they'll treat me to Japanese food?
59AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:21
Gluten just means wheat, right? There's plenty of food that doesn't contain it.
60AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:21
Vegetarian-focused businesses just don't turn a profit in Japan yet because there aren't enough customers. Instead of complaining, bring a hundred friends and wipe out the convenience store salad section. Go to a tonkatsu shop, skip the cutlet, eat nothing but the shredded cabbage garnish, and pay full price for it. Prove it's profitable, and Watami will probably open a chain for it.
62AnonymousSep 11, 2026 09:26
Why are foreigners so demanding? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Normally you'd travel with the mindset of being grateful for the privilege of visiting, right?
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Gluten-free and vegetarian are technically separate dietary restrictions, but the thread largely conflated the two. In practice, Japanese home cooking and restaurant food often use wheat in soy sauce and noodles, and even dishes that look vegetable-based frequently rely on dashi made from bonito flakes or dried sardines — meaning the options are narrower than they appear for anyone avoiding meat or fish. In recent years some restaurants have begun offering gluten-free or vegan options, but posters noted that many have shut down due to low customer numbers, making the balance between inbound demand and the cost of accommodating it a real practical hurdle. The thread saw a persistent split between a self-responsibility camp (“you should research before visiting”) and those arguing that a country branding itself as a tourism destination should meet visitors halfway — a debate that resisted any simple right-or-wrong conclusion.
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