I've been a Vegetarian for as far back as I can remember and until now it has never been an issue. Sure, I've struggled a little bit in various restaurants in America but usually I can get by with ordering a combo of sides or an obnoxiously large salad.

It seems with this little adventure though being Vegetarian is going to present a real issue. The Japanese it appears have no understanding of what a Vegetarian is and therefore don't really have any accommodation for them. For the record at this point I feel as though I should point out that unlike a lot of 'Vegetarians' I don't eat fish.

This dietary inconvenience has led to some interesting discoveries during my research. Firstly that "Vege Restaurants" do exist in Tokyo but they're not exactly what we westerners would expect. For instance one proudly proclaimed that whilst all the food consisted of vegetables and meat substitutes, it was cooked in meat based products for flavour.

Another discovery is that the vast majority of food is served with 'Bonito Flakes" which are a combination of ground up fish and flavourings, usually chilli or seaweed. Mmmm.

There is hope however but it is a depressing one. I do like to sample foreign foods when abroad but on this occasion due to the language barrier and uncertainty on how something would have been cooked or garnished, it appears I'm limited to Western outlets such as Subway, Burger King (Yes! Really!), Dennys and a select few restaurants inside Tokyo Disney Resort. There's also a Hard Rock Cafe at the Universal Citywalk in Osaka which serves possibly the only 'Veggie Burger' in the whole of Japan. Yay!

All that being said, I'm not going to let this gastronomical failure get in the way of what is going to be a truly amazing adventure and whilst were on the subject of food I believe its the perfect time to introduce the robot "restaurant":

Photo: tokyo-fashion.tumblr.com

This is actually a thing. You get served a bento box of various nasties (which is not the point, according to Trip Advisor you just leave the food) and then get treated the most insane and nonsensical dinner show in the world. It has giant sharks, robots, dinosaurs, tanks, planes and plenty of scantily dressed Japanese girls riding the aforementioned objects. Take a look at the video below for further details.

Basically. The very existence of this thing has blown my mind. I. Cannot. Wait.

#Amazing2014