Celebrating Japan’s Veg Heroes : Vegetarian Awards - Japan

The Japan Vegetarian Awards (JVA) began in 2016, with the aim to praise individuals as well as groups and companies who have been actively working for promoting, developing, and innovating vegetarianism in Japan. In 2016, Mr. Atsuto Ono, CEO of Somenoya Tofu Company received the award for his efforts to bring Meat Free Monday into the Japanese society, including numerous government offices. At the third JVA in 2018, Loving Hut Japan in Tokyo received one of the awards for the Café Restaurant category. Mr. Keiji Kidokoro, recipient of JVA Artist Award 2017, is a world champion chainsaw wood sculptor. The Vegetarian Awards are also levering the power of social media to more deeply impact a wide range of sectors of society. The 2019 winner of the Public Figure Award is an exemplar of such social influence. The recipients of The Vegetarian Awards who will be honored are not limited to only Japanese people living in Japan. 2019 saw a couple of foreigners receiving the awards.