You like Japanese food?

Not sure why, but practically every Japanese person we've met has asked us this. Don't know if they are surprised when we say a tentative 'yes' because they are surprised that anyone would like it (some have told us they don't like it themselves). Or, that we would be knowledgeable enough to actually know what Japanese food is. And granted, back in the states it isn't widespread like Chinese or Thai, so we did have to learn about it. Then, once we clarify by telling them we are vegetarian, they are extremely confused. Regardless that this is the land of Zen Buddists, they can not conceptualize not eating meat, especially sea food, which is what they exist on.
So for us, eating at Japanese restaurants or even grocery shopping over here is both mentally & physically exhausting. First of all there are restaurants everywhere. Probably every other shop, especially on the shopping streets. Some streets are just Restaurant streets. Some of it looks good and some of it looks and smells disgusting. Some are more formal & very nice, while others are basically kiosks or bars where you stand to eat. All are advertised on Japanese signs, except for some of the international restuarants, so it's hard to choose if you don't read Japanese. Every restaurant has a display case with their menu items made up in plastic on plates so you can see what they offer, which helps. The making of "Imitation" food is, aparently, a 150 million yen industry. So, you don't really have to read the menu unless, like me, you want to know all the ingredients. But forget it, the menus are in Japanese which we don't read, even the Japanese don't look at the menus. And, until we learn more Japanese, trying to have a conversation with the waitress about what ingredients are in the dish could take all night. Mentally exhausting. So usually we walk until we find a restuarant that we have a vague idea might have something we can order. It takes alot of walking...that's the physically exhausting part.
The other night we went to a Thai restaurant that Rex wrote about. As he explained, we just went along with the waitress about the Pad Thai order because we were so hungry and tired by then and it was impossible to try to discuss it further - and it was kinda funny. So we decided to trust her and she didn't let us down. As we were leaving a college age caucasian male came in and we overheard him asking, in English, if they had anything vegetarian on the menu. We were about to go help him when we saw the waitress point out the Pad Thai. Maybe we helped pave the way for another starving vegetarian.
So it's kinda like that. Most of the time we stick to what we know, Costco has been very good to us. But sometimes it's fun to be a bit more adventurous - although Rex wouldn't agree. I have to admit we've tried some questionable things that I would have rather not done, like when I had to push aside the squid tentacles from the tako-yaki Rex's boss bought for us to try, or the Japanese "set" lunch we tried in Kyoto - still not sure what some of that was. But I've learned make sushi with cucumber, bean sprouts and koya tofu (dried tofu) that we like, (Rex won't try sushi with avacado or egg but I still want to make some), and these tofu rice bags that Rex loves, and Japanese curry. I hope to learn to cook more Japanese dishes and to get to try some Shojin Ryori which is Zen Budhist strictly vegetarian food, but we have to find it first.
I'm sure anyone who visits and likes seafood will be in heaven here (but you'll still have to watch out for the squid & God knows what else!). And maybe we'll have figured out the vegetarian thing a little bit better for our veggie friends & ourselves.