Organic Food in Japan: Tokyo’s Best Options, Naturally

Organic and health food options are becoming more prevalent in Japan, but they can often be difficult to find if you don’t know what you are looking for.

The phrase for ‘organic’ in Japanese is “yuuki Saibai.” A catch-all phrase for foods grown without chemicals and/or pesticides is “Mu kachou.”

It might be helpful to ask if the produce is organic or chemical free by saying: “Kore wa, yuuki saibai desuka?” or “Kore wa, mu kachou desu ka?” – “Is this organic?” or “Is this chemical free?” If all else fails, remember that some people working at organic food outlets will probably understand the word, “ooganikku,” a Japanized version of the word organic; so you can also simply ask, ‘Kore wa ooganikku desu ka?’

You can buy organic and health food produce from a variety of sources including direct from the farmer, supermarkets, speciality stores and even online. The list below should give you a good head start in finding what you need—please note that unless otherwise specified, websites are in Japanese only.

Tokyo Farmers Market Breakdown

Farmers markets are a great spot to buy fresh organic fruit and vegetables. Not only is the produce is seasonal and high quality, but you will be supporting local agriculture.

We Are The Farm

3-24-10 Nishihara, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

We Are The Farm is an organic restaurant opened for dinner daily and lunch on the weekends. Produce is sourced from their own farm.

Whilst organic food in Japan hasn’t caught on quite like it has in Western countries, it is slowly starting to catch up. Farmer’s markets are popping up and the range of organic and health food options at supermarkets are steadily increasing. Whether it will lead to a food revolution in the future is anyone’s guess.