Joined Vegan Initiative as Experts at Chubu Int’l Airport

Chubu Centrair International Airport has been working on “food inclusivity,” including catering to vegetarian, vegan, Muslim and halal dietary needs, and has started offering more than 100 food-inclusive items at around 30 outlets in the airport. Of these, vegetarian and vegan menu items are available at 25 outlets (as of October 2026).

VegeProject Japan has been taking part in the airport’s food inclusivity initiative since August 2025. Drawing on our expertise, we have been involved in a series of efforts: checking which existing menu items at airport restaurants were suitable for vegetarians and vegans, cooperating in holding a seminar and tasting session, and supporting the development of the new vegetarian and vegan menu items now on offer.

Some of the vegetarian and vegan menu items at Chubu Centrair International Airport

A Seminar for the Airport’s Project Team

Looking ahead to Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 (held in Aichi in September 2025), the 20th Asian Games (held in September 2026) and beyond, the airport set up a project team to work on food inclusivity. In August 2025, as experts on vegetarian and vegan matters, we began by giving a lecture to help the team deepen its understanding.

Starting with a Review of Existing Menus

The airport ran an initiative introducing its restaurants that cater to vegetarian, vegan and Muslim customers. As part of this, we helped check which of the menu items already served at the airport’s restaurants could be offered as vegetarian or vegan. Finding food-inclusive options among the menus that airport restaurants were already serving was the first step in the airport’s food inclusivity initiative.
For details of the initiative at the time, please see this article (in Japanese).

Flyer distributed at Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 (2025)

Cooperated in a Seminar and Tasting Session for Restaurant Staff

After that, efforts to extend food inclusivity to more restaurants gained momentum. In February 2026, ahead of the 20th Asian Games in September that year, a food inclusivity seminar and tasting session was held for people working at the airport. Haruko Kawano, Representative Director of VegeProject Japan, spoke at the seminar. She shared the basics of catering to vegetarians and vegans and introduced ideas that could lead to new menu items, such as how to make use of ingredients the restaurants already use every day.

At the tasting session, with the cooperation of manufacturers whose products have obtained vegan certification, vegan meat and seafood alternatives, plant-based broths, bread, sweets and other products were displayed and offered for tasting. It gave participants from each restaurant a chance to discover ingredients and products they could use in menu development. Some of the airport restaurant staff who tasted the vegan ingredients were impressed not only by the flavor but also by how well-made they were in appearance and texture.
For a report on the seminar and tasting session, please see the article below.
Supported Vegan Event by Chubu Centrair Int’l Airport

Supporting Each Restaurant’s Menu Development

Following the seminar and tasting session, menu development got underway in collaboration with each restaurant from March 2026.
We supported menu development by checking the raw materials of the ingredients each restaurant uses and suggesting ingredients suitable for vegetarian and vegan dishes, going back and forth with each restaurant many times. Creating a finished vegetarian or vegan menu item requires not only using ingredients that meet vegetarian and vegan requirements, but also making sure the dish tastes good, is easy to prepare and fits smoothly into the restaurant’s usual operations. Through repeated discussions tailored to each restaurant’s needs, a wide variety of menu items took shape.

New Vegetarian and Vegan Menu Items

After more than six months of menu development with each restaurant, a wide variety of new vegetarian and vegan menu items is now available at the airport, ranging from Nagoya specialties such as miso katsu (cutlet with miso sauce) and kishimen (flat udon noodles) to hamburgers, ramen and sushi.
Some restaurants were already offering vegetarian or vegan menu items, some uses products that have obtained our vegan certification, and some obtained our vegan certification on the occasion of this menu development support.

All vegetarian and vegan menu items currently available at the airport can be found at the link below.

https://www.centrair.jp/en/shop-dine/restaurant/diverse-dining/index.html

Vegetarian and vegan menu items at the airport are marked with the labels shown below. By looking for these labels on menus and at restaurant entrances, vegetarians and vegans can order with peace of mind without having to check every ingredient themselves.

The airport’s original vegan and vegetarian labels

〈Restaurants Offering Vegetarian and Vegan Options, with Example Menu Items〉

Nagoya Specialties and Japanese Cuisine
・Sekai no Yamachan　(Nagoya Miso Katsu Set Meal, Shrimp Tempura-Style Rice Balls, Cauliflower Tulips)
・Conveyor belt Sushi Maruchu　(sushi, 12 varieties: yuba [tofu skin] tempura, neba-neba gunkan [sushi topped with sticky ingredients], corn with vegan mayonnaise, etc.)
・Charcoal-grilled beef tongue Higashiyama　(Vegetable and Tofu Steak Set Meal)
・Japan Traveling Restaurant®︎by BOTEJYU®︎　(Vegan Yakisoba)
・Sora no Onigiriya (Rice balls shop)　(sesame and kombu rice ball, salted rice ball, mitarashi dango)

Noodles
・Restaurant Ebisu　(Soy Sauce Ramen, Tonkotsu-Style Ramen, Miso Ramen) (vegan-certified by VegeProject Japan)
・Yondaime Kagisaburo Miyakishimen　(Shinoda Kishimen)　(vegan-certified by VegeProject Japan)
・Tonkotsu Ramen Mentatsu　(Tonkotsu-Style Ramen, Soy Sauce Ramen) (vegan-certified by VegeProject Japan)
・Vegetable Tanmen noodle restaurant “Veggie Tan”　(Soy Sauce Tanmen [Noodle Soup with Vegetables])
・SARRASIN　(Hot Soba Noodles in Broth, Hot Udon Noodles in Broth)
・Wakashachiya　(Botanical Curry Udon)

Western Cuisine
・THE PIKE BREWING RESTAURANT & CRAFT BEER BAR　(BBQ Soy Meat Burger, Tomato Sauce Soy Meat Burger, Teriyaki Soy Meat Rice Plate, Green Salad)
・Standard Coffee by ROYAL　(Vegetable Penne, NIKUVEGE Vegetable Curry & Multigrain Rice)
・Foodie’s Stand & Pancake House HoiHoi　(Corn Pizza, Fugazzeta Pizza, Soy Meat Bolognese Pasta, 3 gelato flavors / Vegetarian: 12 gelato flavors, 5 types of pancakes)
・Royal Host centrair gourmet kitchen　(Vegetable Penne, NIKUVEGE Vegetable Curry & Multigrain Rice)

Cafés, Light Meals, Drinks and Sweets
・Shiba Fuku　(shaved ice: Black Shiba Kinako Kintoki, Strawberry, Mango, Uji Matcha)
・ITOEN Japanese Tea leaves ＆ Tearoom　(Horebore [green tea], matcha-blended genmaicha, Kaiseki Hojicha / Vegetarian: matcha latte, matcha soft serve, etc.)
・Komeda’s Coffee　(Komeda Blend / Iced Coffee, Orange Juice, Cola / Vegetarian: Café au Lait, Milk Coffee, etc.)
・HANDMADE SANDWICH “SORA”　(Vegetarian: 13 types of sandwiches)
・Fruit Juice SORA　(Pineapple, Rich Kiwi, Mango, Freshly Squeezed Orange, Grape, Berry Berry Mix / Vegetarian: 12 flavors including lemonade)

〈Restaurants and Menu Items Already Offered Since 2025〉
・Japanese Cuisine Before You Fly “Umizen Sorazen”　(Vegetable Penne)
・TOFU DENGAKU KUSUMURA　(Nameshi Dengaku)
・Kakuozan Fruit Daifuku Benzaiten　(assorted fruit daifuku)
・Curry House CoCo Ichibanya　(Vegetarian Curry)
・Subway　(Vegetarian: Veggie Delite®, Avocado & Veggie)

Toward More Food Choices at Chubu Centrair International Airport

It is very rare for so many restaurants within a single facility such as an airport to work on developing and offering vegetarian and vegan menu items across such a wide range of cuisines, and to see them through to completion. For vegetarians and vegans, being able to choose what they want to eat from a wide selection, rather than from a limited menu, should make their travel memories even richer. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are by no means only for vegetarians and vegans; they are delicious for people who usually eat meat and fish, too. In particular, every one of the newly announced menu items was created by restaurants that took the time to work on it seriously, and many customers are surprised by their high quality.

This initiative began in the run-up to the 20th Asian Games, and we hope the menu items developed with each restaurant over many months will continue to be offered as part of everyday life at the airport after the Games. We will continue working together with the airport toward further progress, such as new menu items and more participating restaurants.