Yakiniku is a cuisine that came from Korea. Although these are restaurants specialising in grilled meat, you can sometimes find ones with a surprising range of veg-friendly choices. You'll have to put up with the smell of burning flesh, and insist on a seperate grill than your meat-eating friends, as in these places you cook the food yourself. Check out the menus and sometimes you'll find vegetables to grill (usually mushrooms, capsicum/green pepper, onions and eggplant), plus side dishes like salads, kimchee, etc.

Take a look at some recommended Japanese restaurants in Tokyo.

Izakayas are Japanese-style sit-down bars which serve various kinds of Japanese and Japanized food to share while drinking. If you look around, you should be able to find one which has a few veg options. You might be pushing it to have a complete meal though. Some izakaya standard dishes which might be ok for vegetarians include edamame (boiled young soybeans in the pod), yakko (cold tofu - ask for it without fish flakes), tsukemono (pickled vegetables), onigiri (rice balls - ask for ones with umeboshi (sour plum) or konbu (seaweed) inside) or yaki-onigiri (grilled rice balls), salads, and fried potatoes. Because izakayas serve such varied food, you might be lucky to find pizza, pasta, tofu dishes, okonomiyaki, grilled vegetables, rice and noodle dishes, and other things on the menu which may be edible. Other bars serve a similar range of snacks and small dishes. These are the best places to try sake or sho-chu. The small izakayas are the best for authenticity and atmosphere, and the staff will be more willing to try to cater for you. However, the big chains like Shirokiya, Watami, Wara-Wara, Doma Doma etc have picture menus.

Take a look at some recommended Japanese restaurants in Tokyo.