To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
OKAYAMA — It has been eight months since I left for my new post in Okayama without my family, and I have been leading an unhealthy lifestyle that has affected me physically and mentally.
Just when I was thinking that I had to do something about this, I came across the website of a restaurant that says it serves modern-style shojin ryori, or Buddhist cuisine. I immediately went to check it out.
Jion Shoja is a kaiseki course meal restaurant set in a structure that looks like a traditional Japanese house. It is located on the opposite side of a hokora small roadside shrine with a jizo stone statue in a quiet residential area along the Hyakken River in Naka Ward, Okayama. Jion means “mercilfulness,” and Shoja refers to a place where monks practice Buddhism.
Clad in samue (Japanese work clothes), Jion Shoja owner Teiken Fujioka, 72, welcomed me at the entrance, which was decorated with a noren traditional Japanese curtain with geometric patterns of lotus flowers on it.
“I hope our customers can rest their body and soul here thanks to the mercy of Buddha,” said Fujioka, who is in the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism. She entered monkhood when she was 28, as she felt an affinity for Buddhism.
I was then invited to a tatami mat room with a Buddhist altar. The room had a solemn atmosphere like that of a temple.
In addition to kaiseki meals, Buddhism-related dishes also are served at Jion Shoja. Among them is shojin ryori, or vegan dishes based on Buddhist teachings. Shojin ryori, which is prepared mainly using vegetables and grains, is attracting the attention of people in countries with a diverse range of food cultures, including vegetarianism.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Teiken Fujioka explains a set of 18 modern-style shojin ryori dishes in Naka Ward, Okayama.
In both taste and appearance, shojin ryori strives to be simple, and it is eaten as part of the training of monks. However, Fujioka modernized the dishes for the restaurant, aiming to serve a more contemporary style of shojin ryori, one that suits the palates of those who are not monks.
Among the dishes is Kobachizen juhachigan, priced at ¥3,278, including tax. It is a set of 18 small bowls of simmered or marinated vegetables and fruits. They are prepared with the motif of the 18th vow of 48 vows that Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Buddha) is said to have made during his training period as Hozo Bosatsu.
The 18th vow — which helps people to be reborn in the Pure Land and attain enlightenment — is expressed in the 18 dishes. The neat arrangement of the colorful bowls looks like a splendid mandala.
Lotus root dishes
The Yomiuri Shimbun The Renrenka kaiseki course meal prepared with lotus root
The restaurant is also known for its dishes prepared with the roots of lotuses, whose flower is considered holy in Buddhism. The ¥5,500 Renrenka course meal features a variety of dishes made with lotus root, a specialty of the Tsurajima district in Kurashiki in the prefecture. It includes tofu, sashimi, temarizushi — bite-sized, ball-shaped pieces of sushi — and ice cream.
Hasumen to hasukobachizen, the ¥2,178 lunch set menu of lotus root noodles and side dishes, is available only on weekdays. The noodles are made by kneading lotus root into thin udon noodles, giving them a chewy texture. The broth is made with bonito and kombu seaweed, and it is thoroughly cooked with the noodles, bringing out a flavor that makes you want to eat as many bowls as possible.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Lotus root noodles
Shojin kabayaki, or vegetarian kabayaki, looks and tastes just like kabayaki grilled eel, and it is a good example of how shojin ryori can create dishes that mimic the flavor and texture of meat and fish.
The resilient lotus root tofu with a faintly sweet aroma tasted like a dessert.
Being so busy in daily life had frayed my nerves, but I found myself gradually becoming calm while enjoying this delicious and nutritious food.
“When your nutritional balance is disrupted, you also become depressed. Food is very important as it affects your mind,” Fujioka said. Hearing her words, I had a sense of self-reflection and felt gratitude toward food.
Fujioka and her husband Hideo opened a restaurant serving lotus root dishes about 30 years ago. She helped Hideo, a sushi chef.
Hideo died of cancer three years ago when they were thinking of closing the restaurant and moving to Tokyo where their son lives. This happened while the number of customers had decreased because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fujioka said she started developing modern-style shojin ryori, following her husband’s wish to continue running a restaurant business. Fujioka said she decided to “take a chance” and do things as she pleases.
Although many of the customers at Jion Shoja are women, Fujioka said male business owners and office workers who are tired from work sometimes come to her asking for advice about their own problems, which they cannot share even with their family members.
“In life, we do not have any hardships that we cannot overcome. If a sad thing has happened to you, you will be able to understand and embrace those in the same situation,” Fujioka said. “I hope people will not run away from opportunities to grow.”
I was satisfied with the meal and her story that is deeply rooted in Buddhist teachings. On my way home, I joined my hands in prayer and with gratitude before the jizo stone statue.
