29/07/2025
What’s your favorite vegan-friendly wagashi? 👇🏻😋
💚 Hi, I’m a vegan nutritionist and have been living in Japan (Tokyo) for 11 years.
💚 How to be vegan in Japan? 👉🏻Get your own “The ultimate vegan guide for Japan” ! Check the link in my bio to purchase it 😍 (last updated May 24th, 2025)
I absolutely love wagashi, but I learned fairly quickly that not all of them are equally vegan-friendly. 🙈
Modern wagashi often contain animal-derived ingredients, so it’s important to always check the label for the following:
👉🏻 Dairy (乳製品)
👉🏻 Eggs (卵 / たまご)
👉🏻 Honey (蜂蜜 / はちみつ)
👉🏻 Cochineal / Carmine (コチニール / カルミン / 赤色102号・赤色3号)
👉🏻 Fish extract (かつお / カツオ / 鰹節)
👉🏻 Fish s***m (白子 / しらこ)
❗️If you’re buying fresh wagashi at a food stall, it’s best to ask the staff directly. Mitarashi dango, for example, sometimes contains katsuo dashi (bonito stock) in the glaze.
❗️As a general rule, I avoid pink-colored wagashi, since they often contain cochineal (aka crushed beetles). However, some wagashi are dyed using kuchinashi (クチナシ), a plant-based coloring derived from the gardenia fruit that’s safe for vegans.
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
