Are you living in Japan with a baby, or planning to travel to Japan with a baby, and wondering what kinds of baby food are available? Does your baby have allergies and you are worried about how to buy baby food if it is all written in Japanese? Here is a short video about some of the baby food that is available in the supermarket and drug stores in Tokyo, including how to read the labels in order to understand the ingredients they contain. Thank you Akiko, Kaori & Tomoko for helping explain the labels!
List of ingredients in Japanese on front label of baby food jar (also see images below):
- Flour – Komugi （小麦）
- Egg – Tamago（卵）
- Milk – Gyu-nyu（乳）
- Soba (buckwheat) – Soba（そば）
- Peanuts – Rakkasei（落花生）
- Shrimp – Ebi（えび）
- Crab – Kani（かに）
I have a six month old baby how many jars of baby food should he eat daily ???
I am no expert on nutrition, so I personally always check baby books and other websites for information! There is some great information about how much babies should be eating per day – here is an example on Wholesome Baby Food: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/howmuchbabyeat.htm
I like the section titled “Follow Your Baby’s Cues When Feeding Your Baby Solid Foods”. I starting feeding my baby solids at 6 months, and he started on just a few spoonfuls and by the end of the month was eating about one jar per day. By 7 months he was eating 2 meals a day, and now at 8 months he eats 3 meals a day. Hope this helps and all the best with your baby!
I see there is baby food containing vegetables. What about with fruit? I’m traveling to Japan with my 8 month baby and he eats baby food made of fruit everyday, so I would like to know if it’s easy to find it there.
Thank you, this blog has been very helpful to plan my trip!
Thanks for your message! Japan has baby food containing fruit as well as vegetables and fish/meats. Here is the Kewpie website which shows some of the jars of pureed fruit – apple, mango, banana, etc. It is in Japanese, but if you click on the images you will be able to read the English at the bottom of the jar.
http://www.kewpie.co.jp/babyfood/products/bin/
Japanese supermarkets and convenience stores also have lots of imported bananas which are easy to mash up with a fork to feed baby. I often take a banana and plastic bowl and fork with me when we go out, as it is a great quick healthy meal for my baby. Avocado is also handy in this way.
Hope you have a great trip!
Hello,
I was wondering whether salt and/or sugar is added to these jars and where I could find this information.
Thanks for the tips, really useful. We’re travelling to Japan in October with our 11 month old 🙂
Hi Eva, that’s exciting you are coming to Japan! Hope you have a great time:) Regarding Kewpie baby food, it does contain several additives including sugar and salt. I checked the Kewpie website, and for example the ingredients in a jar of Kewpie Sweet Potato baby food are: Sweet Potato, milk, butter, sugar, corn starch, salt, and vitamin C. Here is the URL: http://www.kewpie.co.jp/babyfood/products/detail.php?code=49843569
If you are looking for organic baby food with no additives, salt or sugar, I would recommend “Ofukuro”. Here is the post: https://www.tokyourbanbaby.com/2012/08/ofukuro-my-favourite-japanese-organic-baby-food-brand.html
You can buy Ofukuro baby food at organic supermarkets such as “F&F” in Tokyo, and I have also seen it in some department stores.
Have a great trip!
Kate