Life in Nagoya - Gourmet trip: Halal food

Traditionally, Japanese food is influenced by Shinto and Buddhism and Halal food is not commonly offered. Still, Japanese people are very tolerant and understanding of religious beliefs and cultural differences and with the increase of muslim foreigners in Japan in the last few years, there are now ways to find halal food easily.

Halal & Japanese Cuisine

Japanese cuisine offers a large variety of meat-free meal options, but eating at regular eateries, restaurants or buying ready-made meals in Japan might not be suitable under strict Islamic law.

Ingredients such as rice wine, miso, soy sauce, meat broth, animal fat, and gelatin are commonly used.  Some restaurants in Japan do offer “Muslim friendly” menus in addition to their regular menu. Beware that most of the time, the dishes are cooked with non-halal dishes and the restaurant may sell alcohol as well. In general, bigger restaurants have a list of ingredients for allergy purposes that can be shared upon request.

Halal in Nagoya

For bigger cities such as Nagoya, there is a growing number of halal shops and restaurants as well as many foreign restaurants fitting for Muslims. Many shops in Nagoya also offer delivery services in the neighborhood

Some 7/11 stores even offer halal lunch boxes and some restaurants, such as hotel buffets have halal menus available only upon reservation.

One way to get Halal meals is to buy halal food and cook meals by yourself. Since NUCB residences are all equipped with a kitchen, it is very convenient to cook your own meals to fit your dietary requirements. While most supermarkets do not offer halal products, Halal shops are relatively easy to find in Nagoya. Shops such as Halalya, Mybotang, and Gyomu Super offer a wide variety of halal food products. In addition, you can order through online halal shops based in Japan that provide home delivery services.

For more information about halal food, you can consult the local tourist information center.

To find the list of halal restaurants and shops in Japan, you can check the following sites:
・Halal Gourmet
・Halal in Japan
or our halal restaurants’ blogs.