What does "Vegan Leather" in Japan mean?

 

Differences between artificial leather, synthetic leather, vegan leather, MF leather, etc.

It seems that so many people think that the product called "Vegan leather" is something special, so I'd like to explain it.
(A) Fashion item maker(s) which affirm(s) to be using "Vegan" leather seems to  has/have appeared in Japan as well.
Vegan leather is not a name of a new material.
There are only two main types of fake leather currently on the market in Japan.
合成皮革 and 人工皮革.
And there are many brands of each of them.
So unfortunately, "Vegan leather" is NOT something vegans in 2021 expect, especially unless specified.
It is NOT biodegradable nor made from plants,
it is not pineapples nor mushrooms, it is plastic.
At least, I have never seen things like that.
I don't mean "Do not buy it" nor "It is not vegan".
I am wearing plastic shoes too.
What I'd like to do is to explain what it is to people who want to know.

For convenience, we will call 合成皮革 synthetic leather, and 人工皮革 artificial leather here.
All fake leathers currently on the market in Japan are either of these.
Therefore, anything other than genuine leather and recycled leather再生皮革 can be called "Vegan leather".
In other words, "new type" vegan leathers in recent years are just a sales strategy that is commonly used in the fashion industry, replacing the words that have the image of "fake" such as "artificial", "synthetic" etc with "trendy" and "positive" words such as "Vegan", "Neo".
In other words, some of fashion item makers found that more value can be added on the same products just by changing the tags.

In general, the products currently sold in Japan as "Vegan leather" are often made with artificial leather 人工皮革 which is considered to be high quality fake leather.
Artificial leather 人工皮革 is a material that artificially reproduced the structure of leather by impregnating polyurethane(PU)ポリウレタン into a three-dimensional non-woven fabric.
So, some of textile makers call it MF Leather (microfiber leather).
Since it is a non-woven fabric, it has the flexibility like genuine leather, and in the case of shoes, it can be "break in".
Clarinoクラリーノ by Kurarayクラレ is the top brand of a long time.
It is adopted by the Self-Defense Forces too.

In contrast, synthetic leather 合成皮革 is a material other than three-dimensional non-woven fabric, coated with polyvinyl chloride(PVC)塩化ビニール or some products are coated with polyurethane(PU).
Since the flexibility is low, it won't change even if you try to "break in".
You may remember fake leather long time ago which were hard and cheaply shiny, that's it.
It looks a lot better today, but the materials are same.
It is usually lower price than artificial leather人工皮革.
Neo Leather is Uniqlo's own brand of synthetic leather.

If (a)manufacture(s) say(s) their products are "vegan" leather different from regular fake leather, it usually means they use artificial leather人工皮革, not old type of synthetic leather 合成皮革.

The easy way to tell the difference of these two is back side.
Products that look like genuine leather on the back too are artificial leather 人工皮革.
If you are looking for shoes, bags, belts, etc. other than genuine leather that are not cheap looking, soft and smooth, check if the material label is artificial leather人工皮革 or see the back side of the material.

I see numerous shoes labeled artificial leather 人工皮革, also made in Japan in regular shoe stores.
Actually, it is quite common, and reasonably priced.
But I have never seen shoes labeled "Vegan" in regular shoe stores.
Again, they are the same thing.
They just haven't noticed that they can double the value just by changing the tags.
So there may be a lot more choices than you think.

I hope next level vegan leather that vegans in 2021 expect gets common sometime soon.

* 再生皮革 recycled leather is made from real leather scraps.
It is often used to make belts.　So be careful.

* The glue may contain animal derived ingredients.
Not only regular shoe makers, but also makers that claim they are using "Vegan leather" may use glue that contain animal derived ingredients.
They may not know that some types of glue contains animal derived ingredients.
Especially if they don't mention that on their website or tags.
It is better to ask what kind of glue they use if it is not mentioned.

* This is about Japanese brands I've seen so far.
I don't know much about imported "Vegan" products.
But it seems to be a similar situation ...??

Daikon radish salad 大根サラダ

Daikon salad is one of the most popular and super simple salads in Japan.
Raw daikon contain enzymes that help digestion.
Amylase helps to digest carbs and alcohol.
Protease helps to digest proteins.
Lipase helps to digest lipids.
Oxidase suppresses carcinogens.

Most of Japanese order this salad in Izakaya.
You know, Izakaya food is heavy and greasy.
Cooked daikon too are delicious and popular, but the enzymes die when they are cooked.
So if you expect nutritional effect of daikon, eat them raw.


Let julienned daikon and daikon sprouts crisp in iced water.
Drain well.

~Dressing
Kaeshi 1 : Sesame oil 1 : Vinegar 1~2
Or
Soy sauce 1 : Sesame oil 1 : Vinegar 1~2 : Sugar 1/3
*Add some wasabi if you like.

~Serve
Serve topped with shredded nori seaweed.
*And some sesame seeds if you like.

 

Gojiru, Traditional Japanese creamy soy bean soup

 Creamy Edamame Soup, Gojiru 呉汁.

Gojiru is a traditional Japanese soup dish of soy beans.

The traditional recipe uses soaked and ground raw soy beans, but I used frozen cooked edamame for simplification in this recipe.

Edamame version is called ao-gojiru (means green gojiru).

250g Frozen edamame

500ml Kombu stock

3Tbsp Sake

1Tbsp Mirin

1/2~Tbsp Miso (I like white miso in this.)

Place the defrosted edamame and the half of kombu stock in the blender and process.

Mix the remaining kombu stock, the sake and mirin in a sauce pan, bring it boil.

Add the blended edamame, cook until hot, then turn off.

Melt in the miso, have a taste test and add salt or more miso if needed.

Serve topped with some veggies, if you like.

Traditionally fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, daikon radish, satoimo taro are often used (precook in salted kombu stock).

Some people add veggies in the stock and cook together.

I like to top with cherry tomatoes!

Gojiru pasta is great too!

Tofacon

 My Tofacon.

There are already thousands of good facon recipes though,

I think this is one of the easiest.

But to be honest, I rarely cook this for myself.

A bit too realistic for me...

This tofu based facon is for when you need chunky one.

If you need thin crispy facon, using rehydrated dry yuba(湯葉）is good.

I like using soy based ingredients to mimic protein food.

Because I don't like confusing menu planning.

I mean, for example, I don't like to make meat substitution from carbs...

But in fact, this marinade makes everything facon!

Transform whatever in the fridge into facon!

1block(400g) Tofu(Regular firm, momen)

~Marinade

1Tbsp Soy sauce

1Tbsp Ketchup

1/2Tbsp Maple syrup

1/4tsp Garlic powder

1/4tsp Liquid smoke

1Tbsp Starch

Oil to cook

Drain, freeze, defrost the tofu (× twice, if you like.)

Cut the tofu into the shape you like. Slice, cube, etc etc.

Remove excess water with paper towel or kitchen cloth.

Marinate in the mixed seasoning overnight (or more) in the fridge.

Pan fry with enough oil.

The oil and starch mimic the fatty flavor and texture.