Portland’s Veganizer Asian Market aims to increase representation in vegan spaces

Fumiko Hozumi remembers the Japanese summer festivals of her childhood fondly, staying up late under lantern-light streets, watching fireworks and browsing street vendors’ displays. The annual festivals were always a special occasion.

“I haven’t gone back to Japan during summer for probably 20 years,” Hozumi said, “but as far as I remember, it was really magical.”

Now, in her adulthood, Hozumi hopes to recreate the experience as a vendor herself. As co-owner of Obon Shokudo, a Japanese restaurant serving vegan comfort food in Portland’s Central Eastside, Hozumi will participate in the inaugural Veganizer Asian Market on June 1. The Portland event inspired by Asian night markets will bring together 50 small businesses for an evening celebrating the intersection between veganism and Asian cultures.

“Part of the reason I started doing these events was because I looked at vegan spaces, and they are predominantly white, with a very limited representation of what Asian food is,” said Waz Wu, the event’s producer. “When we think about so many classic vegan ingredients — like tofu, tempeh, seitan, miso — these all have Asian origins.”

Wu, the sole owner of Veganizer in Portland, has organized vegan markets, pop-ups and tastings since 2017. Veganizer started in New York City as an advocacy organization working to increase vegan options in the restaurant industry. Veganizer founder Kiki Adami encouraged the growth of chapters across the country. With industry changes and the pandemic, Veganizer in Portland is the last chapter standing.

“Portland’s always been a vegan destination,” Wu said. People come here for vacation, and people care for the vegan food. … Beyond the vegan community, I think the food community has just been really welcoming to Veganizer. I’m able to do this because what I do appeals to everybody who loves food, not just vegans.”

The market also will double as a space for creatives and artists to sell their goods. Wu hopes to create a vibrant atmosphere where attendees can share meals and shop in one space.

“Most of my events have just been so focused on food and beverage,” Wu said. “It’s just really nice to be able to expand beyond the food and beverage of that realm and include other creatives in Portland.”

Cyrus Ichiza, founder and co-owner of Jade Rabbit, will be a vendor at the marketplace. Jade Rabbit, which originally opened as Ichiza Kitchen in 2017, specializes in vegan Pan-Asian cuisine inspired by Ichiza’s Chamorro and Tsinoy — Chinese and Filipino — heritage.

For the past two years, Ichiza has participated in previous iterations of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Veganizer events, which have taken different forms over the years. From takeout boxes during the pandemic, Wu pivoted to in-person, sit-down tasting menu dinners in 2023 and 2024. This year marks Wu’s first time organizing a Veganizer event of this scale.

“It feels lovely to participate and promote events that kind of center Asian Americans,” Ichiza said. “I feel honored. I love that we can have a space that is wanted in a sense.”

Ichiza, who will be selling vegan takoyaki — fried Japanese treats typically filled with diced octopus — is excited to experience the night market atmosphere surrounded by other vegan makers.

“Even though I didn’t grow up with it, as an adult, I’ve done a few of the markets,” Ichiza said, although at most of the night markets, Jade Rabbit has been one of the only vegan booths.

Although not every food vendor is 100% vegan, the Veganizer concept, Wu said, is focused on working with businesses to highlight their vegan options.

Beyond the marketplace, the event will also feature a lion dance by White Lotus and live demonstrations on making miso, dumplings and Vietnamese summer rolls. Hozumi and her husband and co-owner, Jason Duffany, will host the miso demo, highlighting nontraditional methods of making the fermented soybean paste.

Hozumi and Duffany have been working with Veganizer since before 2020. At the time, Hozumi said, there weren’t any fully vegan Japanese restaurants in Portland that were owned by Japanese proprietors. When the pair moved to Portland in 2014, they were looking to diversify options for Japanese food.

“We didn’t want to do anything like what you see in the U.S., like a classic Japanese restaurant with sushi and ramen,” Hozumi said. “That’s pretty saturated, and we wanted to do something more unique.”

At the market, they will offer skewers with marinated tofu, morel mushrooms and other vegetables.

“When you think about Japanese food, tofu is a main ingredient for a lot of Japanese cuisine,” Hozumi said. “There are definitely naturally vegan, vegetarian dishes in Asian cuisines. I just want people to kind of open their eyes a little bit. … It’s just another cultural education.”

The market is strictly Asian — highlighting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultures — with 10% of ticket sales donated to APANO, a nonprofit dedicated to uniting Asian communities in Oregon.

“There are so many night market style events, but we sometimes forget that these night markets are Asian in origin,” Wu said. “It feels really meaningful to be able to do that.”

Tickets for the event will be offered as pay what you can with free, $5 or $10 options.

“I just want to get as many people into the venue to support the vendors and see what a Veganizer event is like,” Wu said. “I have no idea how many people are actually going to show up, but I hope the community comes through for us.”

If you go: Veganizer Asian Market: 5-10 p.m. Sunday, June 1; Redd on Salmon, 831 S.E. Salmon St., Portland; pay what you can tickets (free-$10) online or at the door; @veganizerpdx on Instagram.