Japanese restaurants mushroom in Vietnam

There are more than 1,000 restaurants serving Japanese cuisine in Vietnam, the majority of which are in HCM City. HCM City has about 660 restaurants serving Japanese cuisine, twice as many as there were three years ago, according to the Consulate General of Japan in HCM City.

Outside of HCM City, there are about 110 Japanese restaurants across provinces and cities in southern Vietnam, such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Khanh Hoa, and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces.

The Japan Consulate official said approximately half of the restaurants serving Japanese food in Vietnam are run by Japanese owners and the remaining are owned and run by Vietnamese franchisees and entrepreneurs.

The increase in Japanese restaurants has also led to a growing number of Japanese food and ingredients sold.

In 2016, Vietnam was the fifth-largest importer of Japan’s agricultural produce and food in the world.

Japan exports about US$180 million worth of forestry and seafood to Vietnam every year.

Japan is currently Vietnam’s second-largest foreign investor, having developed about 3,450 projects, with a total registered capital of over $46 billion.

South Korea is the largest foreign investor with 6,130 projects, with a total registered capital of over $54.5 billion.