Hello there! Do you know why I'm interested in veganism? It is because I used to be a vegan and I struggled a lot especially in Japan. Here is my story
Why I became vegan?
-I love horses and I couldn't eat horse meat. I wrote a paper about horse meat eating culture. I read some books and realized how people see animals are based on their perceptions. Those people who still eat horse meat comes from historical reason like war. I found out how cow, chicken and pigs are treated. I didn't become vegan at this time.
Traveling to Thailand
- I stayed in Thailand for two weeks when I was 19. I realised that I could send life without eating meat. Coming back to Japan, I became Vegetarian. I became vegan because diary caused me some kind of allergy around this time.
Harsh time
-My family, especially my mum didn't understand me. She thought I was crazy and she tried to kick me out from house many times.
Moving to England
- Things got a lot easier because products were labeled as vegan/vegetarian. Sweden was the best for me when I visited.
Why I stopped?
- I stopped because I was training seriously and I realised that I could take some nutritions only from meat. I don't eat much meat right now. I rather prefer fish.
Vegan in Japan
-Because I was vegan and things were so hard. Partly because people don't understand what vegan is and also products are not labeled. I started sending emails to Japanese convenience stores about two years ago asking them to label V/Vegan mark. Today, I finally got a reply from one of the biggest super market saying "We will take this seriously. Thank you for your opinion". This supermarket was recently acquired by Walmart.
I really hope that Japan will become a better place for vegan!
Haruka
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