Cooking Mexican food in Japan is absolutely possible — but it requires flexibility, curiosity, and a realistic understanding of what is and isn’t available here.
I’m a Mexican cook based in Hayama, Japan, and over the years I’ve taught workshops, catered events, and written a Mexican cookbook specifically for people living here. This guide comes from real experience: Japanese supermarkets, specialty shops, online orders, substitutions, and occasional disappointments.
If you’re looking for a 2026, honest, updated guide to buying Mexican ingredients in Japan — this is it.
Can you really cook Mexican food in Japan?
Short answer: yes — but not exactly the same way you would in Mexico.
Mexican cuisine has always adapted to place, climate, and season. Cooking Mexican food abroad isn’t about copying — it’s about understanding flavors, techniques, and making thoughtful substitutions.
Japan actually offers:
- High-quality produce
- Incredible seasonality
- Respect for ingredients
- Strong fermentation and preservation culture
All of this makes Japan a surprisingly good place to cook Mexican food — once you know where to look.
Mexican ingredients you can easily find in Japan
Let’s start with the good news.
Commonly available ingredients
You can find these at regular supermarkets or international stores:
- Onions
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Limes (seasonal)
- Cilantro (sometimes labeled パクチー / coriander)
- Avocados
- Beans (kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans occasionally)
- Rice (Japanese short-grain works for many dishes)
- Vinegar, sugar, salt, oil
- Cinnamon
- Cumin
These are enough to cook many everyday Mexican meals. Is it traditional, not really. But you can build the basic flavor profiles
Harder-to-find Mexican ingredients (and where to get them)
This is where most people get stuck.
Dried chiles
Dried chiles are the backbone of Mexican cooking — and also the trickiest.
Most commonly found in Japan:
- Guajillo
- Ancho
- Chipotle (usually canned)
- Pasilla (limited)
- masa
- other chiles, tomatillos
- mexican cheese
- nopales (seasonal)
- Jamaica
- Corn husks
- Tortillas, masa, and corn for nixtamalization
Where to buy:
- Online specialty shops (like kyodaimarket.com)
- Latin food importers ( easymarket.com, molinocamponoble.com, peppersfriends.jp)
- Occasional international grocery stores in Tokyo like National Azabu, Kaldi, Jupiter
- Our cookbook includes an in-depth guide of all the online and physical stores
Tip: Availability changes constantly. When you find good chiles — buy extra and freeze them.
Ingredient substitutions that actually work
Some honest truth:
You don’t need every Mexican ingredient to cook Mexican food. Authentic flavors requiere authentic ingredients. But you can get a lot closer if you understand:
What also matters:
- Technique
- Balance of acidity, heat, fat, and texture
- Understanding the role of an ingredient / flavor profile
- cultural context
I regularly use Japanese ingredients in my cooking — not as a compromise, but as a conversation between cultures.
For example:
- yuzu and other japanese citrus for my ceviches and marinades
- miso to add depth to things like soups and sauces
- rice oil a staple in my kitchen
Final thoughts
Finding Mexican ingredients in Japan can feel overwhelming at first — especially if you’re used to cooking in Mexico or somewhere with easy access to Latin American products. But over time, something interesting happens: you stop chasing exact replicas and start cooking with more intention.
Japan teaches you to pay attention — to seasonality, quality, and restraint. Mexican cuisine teaches you depth, memory, and generosity. When those two worlds meet in the kitchen, something new and meaningful is created.
This guide isn’t meant to be definitive. Availability changes, shops come and go, and every cook builds their own rhythm. Think of it as a living reference you can return to as your confidence grows.
If you’re cooking Mexican food in Japan, you’re already part of a much larger story — one shaped by migration, adaptation, and creativity. And that story is still being written, one meal at a time.
If this guide was helpful, consider bookmarking it, sharing it with a friend, or exploring more posts where I dive deeper into ingredients, substitutions, and techniques for cooking Mexican food in Japan.
Buen provecho — wherever you are cooking from.
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