A variety of vegan festivals are held in Japan. They tend to be very popular and can often sell out early, especially of items that aren’t sweets. If you visit during the final hours, you may not be able to purchase any food, so plan to arrive early!

Due to cold winter weather and hot summer weather, outdoor festivals tend to not be held in certain months. They usually take place in spring and fall. In general, the large vegan festivals in Japan are outdoor, with the exception of the Plant-Based Expo or summer editions of the Tokyo Vegan Gourmet festival. 

In addition, you may be able to find smaller, local festivals or events with just a few vendors throughout the year. A good way to find them is to follow your favorite vegan shops and restaurants on social media.

We were able to list more than 20 vegan festivals in Japan for 2019. However, due to the influence of COVID-19, very few such events were held in 2020. As of 2024, the situation is restabilizing. We will publish information about the events (name, location, date, time and so on) as it becomes available. 

2024 VEGAN FESTIVALS

MONTHLY

Event: Vegan Night Market Okinawa
Description: Monthly vegan event with 5-6 local vendors (both food and goods)
Place: 〒904-0301 Okinawa, Nakagami District, 読谷村座喜味５７７
Date: The second Friday of each month 
Time: 18:30-22:00
Cost: Free admission
Instagram (info on the event/vendors usually appears in the stories on the Bloom Coffee Instagram account the day before)

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

Event: Ethical VEGAN Fest 15th Impact
Description: The theme of the festival is “Animal Rights,” “Ecology,” and “Healthy,” and visitors can learn about the vegan/vegetarian way of life. From their Facebook-“What will be there?
Vegan food stalls, Sale of eco fair trade products, animal rights, Display of environmental issues, Yoga class, Lectures, Music live & Performances, etc.“ It also states- “We recommend you to bring your own tableware from the viewpoint of ecology at this event. Thank you for your cooperation:)“

Place: Chuo Park, 1-4 Kandanakadori, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo Prefecture 

Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/muPd4SMVqtqLQ9QR8     

From their Facebook page: “Nearest Station 1 min walk from Amagasaki station of Hanshin Main Line. (Amagasaki is a stop 10min away by direct train from either Umeda of Hanshin line and 15min away by direct train from either Osaka Namba of Kintestu line)
Date: Sunday, March 10, 2024
Time: 10 AM – 4 PM
Cost: Free entry
Facebook  Instagram

APRIL

Event: Nishinomiya Vegan Fest 
Description: Vegan festival by the Japan Vegan Society. Centered on organic vegan foods. Eco-friendly goods will be available for purchase. 
Place: Rokutanji Park, 7-25 Rokutanjicho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 662-0918
Date: Sunday, April 7th 2024
Time: 10 AM – 4 PM
Cost: Free admission
Instagram

Event: Kyoto Vegan Gourmet Festival (Spring)
Description: Around 36 stalls
Place: Umekoji Park Shichijo Entrance Plaza” 56-3, Kankiji-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 30 seconds walk from “Umekoji Kyoto Nishi” station
Date: Sunday, April 14th 2024
Time: 10:30 AM – 4 PM
Cost: Free admission
Website

Event: Tokyo Vegan Gourmet Festival (Spring)
Description: Held rain or shine.
Place: Kiba Park Event Plaza　4-6-1 Hirano, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0023
Date: Sunday, April 21st 2024
Time: 10:30 AM – 4 PM
Cost: Free admission
Website

MAY

Event: Nagoya Vegan Gourmet Festival (Spring)
Description: Around 60 food stalls
Place: Tsuruma Park 1-1 Tsurumai, Showa Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 466-0064
Date: Sunday, May 12rd, 2024 
Time: 10:30 AM – 4 PM
Cost: Free admission
Website

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

Event: Tokyo Vegan Gourmet Festival (Autumn)
Description: TBD
Place: TBD
Date: September 29, 2024
Time: TBD
Cost: TBD
Website

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER 

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ANIMAL PROTECTION GROUPS

Below are some of the animal protection groups in Japan (note not all are vegan).

All Life in A Viable Environment 
Animal Advocacy Japan Facebook (bilingual) From their Facebook: “Bilingual Japan Animal Rights and Welfare info& News” It is not an animal rescue/activist group.
あにまるガード (Animal Guard) Facebook (some English translations provided) A no-kill shelter and group in Niigata caring for and rehoming animals and educating about animal welfare.
Animal Rights Center – Facebook (some English translations provided) Instagram (some English translations provided) From autotranslate from their Facebook: We will do our best to eliminate the suffering and suffering of animals caused by factory livestock and animal exploitation, violence and discrimination against the vulnerable, and environmental problems.
アニマルライツ中部 (Animal Rights Chubu) Facebook Twitter 
Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) (English) A non-profit, non-governmental organization with about 30 staff members which works to rescue, care for and rehome dogs and cats. As of the time of writing in December 2020, since they began keeping records in 1991 they have rehomed 3274 dogs and 1390 cats. From their website: “ARK aims to form a network of people who love animals, believe in sharing their lives with them, and who work actively to rescue them from suffering.”
Animal Rights Kansai Japan – Facebook An English statement is provided on their Facebook: “We are a group of activists who fight for animal rights in the Kansai area of Japan.”
アニマルライツ神戸 (Animal Rights Kobe) Facebook 
アニマルライツ大阪 (Animal Rights Osaka) Facebook 
Dolphin Project/ドルフィン・プロジェクト Facebook Instagram Twitter From autotranslate from their Facebook: Founded in 1970, we are an international organization that sees dolphins around the world in the wild, free and protected. Let’s protect the dolphins together!
Fukushima Slaughter Zero Action/福島殺処分zeroアクション Facebook Seeking to eliminate slaughter (putting down) of shelter animals. From autotranslate from their Facebook: I want to get rid of slaughter. If we share that feeling and many people take action, we can eliminate the slaughter. Mainly protects dogs and cats with old illness and injury problems.
HEART Tokushima (English) From their website: “Humane Education, Advocacy and Rescue Tokushima – Animal Shelter
HEART is a registered NPO no kill animal shelter run solely on a volunteer basis and funded entirely through donations. We are based in Tokushima, Japan and our aim is to build a community in which companion animals can live free from suffering or cruelty. Our activities include rescue, care and re-homing of stray, abandoned, abused and neglected animals. We also promote spay/neuter and responsible pet ownership through education and supportive means.”
KDP – Kanagawa Dog Protection  Facebook From autotranslate from their Facebook: Kanagawa Dog Protection is working to protect dogs that have been abandoned by people and are waiting to be slaughtered, and to find foster parents.
Kawakuji Animal Rescue Facebook (English) Instagram (English) An Ibaraki-based group focusing predominantly on neonatal kittens and TNR.
Japan Animal Welfare Society (English) From their website: “Established as a Legal Entity in 1956, JAWS has a more than 60 year history of serving as a central member of the animal welfare community in Japan and of working with numerous domestic and foreign organizations.”
Japan Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA) (English) From their website: “Established in 1986, the Japan Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA) is a nation-wide citizen group dedicated to protecting animals and our mission to stop all animal testing.”
Japan Cat Network (English) From their website: “We are an animal welfare group with a 20+ year history in Japan of “Helping people help pets”.. A volunteer run organization and donation funded…Our greatest joy comes from helping individuals learn the importance of spay/neuter, TNR and/or finding fur-ever homes for the stray/abandoned animals in their own community..”
Japan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA)/公益財団法人 日本動物愛護協会 From autotranslate from their website: 

“Toward a Society Where People and Animals Can Live Together
Animals bring joy and healing to our lives and are now considered to be a part of the family. On the other hand, animal abuse and inappropriate handling of animals continue unabated, and approximately 72,000 dogs and cats are taken in by local animal welfare centers and public health centers each year, of which 24,000 are killed. (According to the Ministry of the Environment in fiscal 2020.) This means that approximately 65 animals are killed or destroyed each day.

We at the JSPCA are committed to “Keep the animals happy and do not let them be unhappy! We at the JSPCA are working to increase the number of happy animals under the slogan, “We want to keep the lives that are alive today happy, not the lives that are unhappy!

We invite you to support our activities and join us in creating a society where people and animals can live together happily.

Please lend us your help.”
The Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments (English) 
彼らを救おう、日本でも殺処分ゼロを！by Save Their Life (Let’s Save Them and Reach No Euthanasia in Japan! by Save Their Life) Facebook Sharing information about shelter animals facing euthanasia in an effort to find them owners and reach no euthanasia for shelter animals in Japan. 
Life Investigation Agency (LIA) (English) A small NGO. From the About section of their website: “Life Investigation Agency (LIA) was established in 2010. We are an independent campaigning organization to investigate, expose, inspire and campaign against the illegal trade in wildlife, illegal logging and trade of timber species, the destruction of our natural environment and the abuse for animals.”
NPO法人 動物解放団体リブ (NPO Animal Liberator) Facebook From autotranslate from their Facebook: The mission is to release animals.
It is an organization that respects and liberates the freedom and dignity of animals (including humankind) and aims to create a peaceful society. From their website, they provide some English sentences about the goals they’d like to see achieved, such as: Stop using “Bullhook” and “Drill” on elephants as soon as possible. 
NPO CATNIP Companion Animal Trust Nippon (English) A small animal rehoming, rescue and TNR NPO based in Fukuoka, northern Kyushu, Japan.
NPO Inuneko Minashigo Kyuentai/NPO法人 犬猫みなしご救援隊 Facebook The name means NPO Dog & Cat Minashigo Relief Team. They deal with providing lifetime care for abandoned, abused, sick and neglected animals, re-homing, spreading animal welfare awareness, educating the younger generation, providing assistance for elderly pet owners, and creating a caring and thoughtful community where people and animals can live in harmony through education on how to feed stray cats and clean up after them in public places.
Pawer (English) Facebook provides information on their website in English, Japanese, and Spanish. From their Facebook “about” section: “There are about 83,000 dogs and cats legally killed as “culling” at government-run animal shelters in Japan. Pawer was created to provide different kinds of information about dogs and cats and to better understand the reality of animal culling in Japan.”
PEACE (Put An End to Animal Cruelty and Exploitation) (English) From their website’s About Us page: “PEACE stands for “Put an End to Animal Cruelty and Exploitation”.
PEACE campaign to raise awareness of the terrible animal suffering and exploitation taking place behind the scenes in out modern, convenient and comfortable world.
PEACE are active mainly in the areas of animal testing, zoos and the sale of exotic pets.
PEACE campaign for change in a number of ways including: carrying out surveys, collecting data, petitions and lobbying for change.
PEACE send out a newsletter and hold meetings once a month in Tokyo .”
PETA Asia Japan Twitter YouTube Instagram TikTok
Wild Welfare (English) This group is not Japan-based but is active in Japan. From their website: “We improve animal welfare for all species held in zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries. We work with facilities, not against them, to help support long term change in animal care. We challenge captive wild animal practices that compromise animal welfare.

VEGAN GROUPS

The Ethical Vegan Society of Japan

Japan Vegetarian Society (vegan and vegetarian)

Vegan Actions Japan/ヴィーガン アクションズ ジャパン Facebook (bilingual) Instagram (bilingual) Kansai-based, bilingual street activism group with chapters in Kyoto and Osaka. 

VegeProject Japan (English) Facebook (bilingual) produces the extremely useful paper Tokyo Vege Map and has a vegan mark on various food and drink products in Japan, as well as a vegan mark for restaurant use. VegeProject Japan also holds various events in Tokyo.

From its website: “VegeProject’s concept was born in 2013 through Haruko Kawano’s desire to introduce vegan menus to the cafeterias of her university (Kyoto University). Since then, vegan options have been introduced not only at Kyoto University but also at other universities such as Tokyo University.

Now as a nonprofit organization, we are creating vegan choices in all avenues of society in Japan. We have succeeded in introducing vegan menus at a number of different places such as universities, restaurants and government cafeterias, and have also developed vegan products in cooperation with various companies.

In addition, VegeProject provides vegan certifications, produces VegeMap and vegetime.net, and organizes vegan events.”

There are also vegan meetup groups around Japan (all links bilingual) like the Tokyo Vegan Meetup group, the Yokohama Vegan Meetup group, and the Kansai Vegan Meetup group. Try to find or make one in your local area!

WEBSITES

Tokyo Vegan (bilingual) The companion website to the popular Tokyo Vegan Meetup group has information on what veganism is and why to become vegan, available bilingually. It may be a good resource to share with Japanese friends. They also have links to restaurant guides, recipes and cooking classes, and so on.