While still a long way from being a mainstream lifestyle choice in Japan, awareness and acceptance of vegan food and culture has come a long way over the last decade. It’s become much rarer to meet someone who has no knowledge of veganism or views it as an odd or unorthodox concept. While this growing familiarity has made it somewhat easier for vegans to find something to eat, coming across an authentic izakaya (bar/restaurant) 居酒屋 offering a completely vegan menu would, until very recently, have been fantastical.
Yet, just a 6-minute stroll from Tokyo Skytree and within easy walking distance of Asakusa Station and Senso-ji Temple, Nowhere is exactly that. The food is all homemade using seasonal and locally sourced plant-based ingredients, bringing a new and delicious twist to a tempting line-up of Japanese comfort food classics. The cozy interior and ambience provides the perfect setting for vegans and non-vegans alike, to drink, eat, relax and enjoy the full izakaya experience.
Vegan Izakaya Nowhere Concept
Born in Tokyo but raised in Aomori, Nowhere’s charismatic owner Yuki Koyama spent several years in the mid 1990s studying in the UK. It was there that she met her husband and discovered vegetarianism, before eventually becoming a committed vegan. In 2017 she opened hallogallo, a small popular vegan bar in Nakano that hosted DJ nights and events. Things were going well until the 2020 pandemic forced it to close, but it didn’t take long for Koyama to start thinking about a rebirth of sorts.
She explains, “When the pandemic happened, wishing to avoid crowds and not wanting to visit bars or restaurants, my husband and I started to take long walks across town, often ending up in Asakusa and sitting next to the river near Azumabashi. The wide-open airy feeling of the area and its vibrancy really appealed to us. It was sitting there that the seed of an idea, something to aim towards and hope for when the situation improved, came to me.”
Izakaya play an important role in the social life of Japan. Visitors and residents alike are drawn to the comfortable feeling of relaxing into the cheerful laid-back atmosphere of an izakaya, particularly one that acts as an extension to their home, ordering food and drink as the fancy takes them.
“I have always loved that feeling, but as a vegan for well over a decade, and a vegetarian for longer than that, had, of course, found the choice of food and drinks available to me massively restricted, sometimes to almost zero, which does, of course, take quite a lot of fun out of it,” says Koyama ruefully. “I wondered if it wouldn’t be possible to make a really authentic izakaya where vegans and non-vegans alike could enjoy that same type of convivial atmosphere, and delicious food and drink, without any restrictions whatsoever. Nowhere is my attempt to answer that question.”
Cozy and Familiar Aesthetics
Upon entering Nowhere visitors are greeted with an immediate sense of warmth and friendliness. The decor is mainly made up of things that Koyama and her husband have collected over the years from flea-markets, recycle shops, etc. Rummaging through this collection for the most fittingly wa 和(Japanese-style) items, they have come up with a selection that is cheerfully retro, folksy, and a little bit pop. It certainly makes for a cozy, somewhat out of the ordinary (yet familiar) atmosphere.
The name of the izakaya derives from two main sources: the 1990 album Nowhere by British shoegaze band Ride, and William Morris’ 1890 utopian socialist science fiction book News from Nowhere. As a name, Koyama felt Nowhere seemed to have a connection to the sort of unhurried, cheerful hours that could be spent in an izakaya with friends or family.
The logo, designed by her illustrator husband, is inspired by the many bridges that cross the Sumida River, especially Azumabashi. It is a very simplified view of a bridge, with a full moon shining above it and reflected in the river underneath. “The link to the name is an idea that a bridge, while taking a person between two places, is not exactly a place in itself, and that somewhere in the middle is often a nice point to pause and appreciate your surroundings,” explains Koyama.
As a music lover, the Aomori-native has made sure that this also fits into Nowhere’s identity. Playing unobtrusively in the background is a sunshiny blend of Japanese pop music ranging from the 1950s to modern day sounds, featuring artists such as YMO, Masumi Hara, Mioko Yamaguchi, Flipper’s Guitar, Cibo Matto, Oeil and Yuragi.
Vegan Menu
The food and drink is a take on classic traditional izakaya menu items, the type of treats that vegans generally don’t get to enjoy such as thick-cut ‘ham’ katsu, crispy karaage and gyoza. Other highlights include an aromatic wasabi salad, original shichimi and Sichuan pepper edamame, seasonal pickled vegetables, furofuki daikon, and a comforting, homely miso soup.
The drinks menu is also 100% vegan and includes beer and wine (by the glass or bottle), plus a variety of shochu and nihonshu (sake) – the matcha tonyu (soy milk), either with or without shochu, is a popular choice. There are also soft drinks and non-alcoholic beer for those embracing sobriety.
Nowhere has attracted a mix of vegan and non-vegan customers, including many overseas visitors, but also local Japanese people who increasingly see plant-based food as something they might like to try. “We’ve done our best to make sure that the food is delicious for everyone,” says Koyama. “And the fact that those local people come back suggests that we’ve got it right.”
Vegan Izakaya Nowhere: 1 -8-2 Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 131-0033
