In recent years, vegan and vegetarian restaurants have begun sprouting around Japan, but any wide-scale uptake in plant-based diets as seen elsewhere in the world is seemingly a long way off in the country's animal-focused culinary culture.With an eye on the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, a movement involving local regions and political figures has begun promoting understanding of animal-free cuisine in the spirit of "omotenashi," or wholehearted Japanese hospitality.The movement has some way to go, however, as it is certainly not controversial to say Japan lags the rest of the world when …READ FULL ARTICLE
