ciplantgo: plant-based lifestyle in Japan 日本での菜食ライフスタイル

Saori Kondo is the co-organizer of the Tokyo Vegan Meetup group. One of the first things that struck me upon meeting Saori early 2018 was her incredibly positive energy, backed up by an awesome smile. As a co-organizer of the Tokyo Vegan meetups, she does her best to talk to everyone showing up at the group’s events, which means you will probably not be able to enjoy her presence for more than a few minutes at a time. Still, even if for a very short time, you will definitely feel genuine caring vibes emanating from her. Saori is the antithesis of the angry vegan: her love for life and all living beings makes her shine with positivity.

In this interview, we cover her path to veganism, her experience as a vegan living in Tokyo, how she became co-organizer of the Tokyo Vegan meetup group, what kind of and how much work comes with that job. Then, we finally end the podcast by some rapid fire questions. Her story is unique in a lot of ways, and I hope you will find it as interesting as I did.

- Introduction

- 0:01:40s - Presentation of the Tokyo Vegan Meetup (TVM) group and their activities

- 0:03:10s - Saori’s path to veganism

                0:06:18s - Saori’s first steps as a vegetarian/vegan in Japan

                0:07:35s - Starting to attend TVM

                0:09:30s - Saori’s social life as a plant-based person in Tokyo

                0:13:20s - Saori’s change to veganism

                0:22:45s - Saori’s diet habits since becoming vegan

- 0:26:35s - Becoming a TVM co-organizer

- 0:30:30s - What is a TVM co-organizer doing exactly?

                0:42:00s - How much hours is Saori working for TVM, and what would be the job TVM could ask to an extra pair of hands

- 0:46:35s - Most positive/negative aspect of having become vegan

- 0:49:30s - Rapid fire questions

 

Introduction BGM: "Corporate Japan" by Birocratic (http://birocratic.lnk.to/allYL)

 Additional notes and links

- Tokyo Vegan Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/fr-FR/vegan-389/

- Vegan Tokyo: https://vegantokyo.org/

- ciplantgo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciplantgo/

Ciplantgoへようこそ。Ciplantgoとは、日本の昔の名称であるCipangoが、英語のPlant＝植物を合体した自作の言葉です。Ciplantgoには二面があります：日本で菜食ライフスタイルを送っている人々のインタビューが中心になるポッドキャストと、僕自身のライフスタイルが垣間見えるインスタグラムです。

人生のほぼ半分、日本文化と言語と接してきたフロラン・デブベリーと言います。30代に入ってから予想外の思想やキャリア転換に出逢った結果、2017年9月ぐらいヴィーガンになりました。そこからの旅は興味深かった反面、悔しい経験も山程しました。そこで、個人的にどういうふうに動物のための活動をすればいいかを真剣に考えてみれば、見出した答えはこのciplantgoです。

このポッドキャストは主に菜食主義者（フレクシタリアン、ベジタリアン、ヴィーガンなど）を中心にしたインタビューを提供するものになっています。そして、できるかぎりそれらのインタビューを英語で送るつもりですが、場合によって日本語かフランス語をも使わせてもらいます。

できれば、エピソードを月2回載せたいと思っていますが、現在それは保証できません。また、インスタグラムのアカウントには、トレーニング、食習慣や趣味を表す写真と動画を載せて、無理をしないヴィーガンでも、アクティブで、健康的で、そして社交的な人生を送ることができることを証明したいと思っています。

 

Music: "Corporate Japan" by Birocratic (http://birocratic.lnk.to/allYL)

ciplantgo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciplantgo/

Welcome to ciplantgo, where Cipango - a poetic name for Japan, used by Marco Polo - and ‘plant-based lifestyle’ cross path. There are two sides to ciplantgo: a podcast aimed at introducing people living a plant-based lifestyle in Japan, and an instagram account where I share many aspects of my everyday routine.

My name is Florent Debouverie, and I’ve been knee deep into Japanese culture and language for almost half of my life. After quite a few unexpected career and mindset turns in my early 30s, I came to veganism around September 2017. The journey since then has been both fascinatingly fruitful and frustrating, and has led me to ask myself how to spread, in my own way, the message for more compassion towards animals. Ciplantgo is my answer to this question.

The podcast will mainly revolve around interviews of people living in Japan and living a plant-based lifestyle, whether they’re vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian. When possible, the interviews will be held in English; if not, then in any other language I am fluent in, French or Japanese. Although being in Japan, it makes sense to me to prioritize English. One reason is that I like the idea of reaching out to foreigners in Japan, or to any other English speaker throughout the world. Another reason is my belief that the more one identifies with me, the more likely that person will feel like challenging their ideas and habits. Being a foreigner in Japan, I do not think a lot of Japanese would naturally identify with who I am. Lastly, English is a language that comes more naturally to me, so I believe it will be a better tool to help me focus on the interview itself rather than on my Japanese grammar. That being said, I might reconsider this decision further along the line, if I deem it necessary.

As for the frequency of releases, I aim at one or two episodes per months; I’m someone who loves consistency and would very much want to guarantee an interview every other week, but only time will tell if I can manage that on top of the usual life stuff.

On the instagram account, I will upload pictures and videos of my various training and diet routines, as well as of my numerous hobbies. It will be a way for me to use my good health, fitness and very socially active life as a testimony to how a plant-based lifestyle can contribute to enjoying all those positive aspects without much, if any, sacrifices.

 

Music: "Corporate Japan" by Birocratic (http://birocratic.lnk.to/allYL)

ciplantgo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciplantgo/