1,820 Japanese Restaurants in Vietnam: Where They Open and Who Supplies Them (2026)

Vietnam had about 1,820 Japanese restaurants in 2025, according to the count published by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, up 12% from the 1,620 counted in 2023. This guide puts the official numbers, the restaurant formats, the price points, the Michelin list and the 2026 trends in one place, for the companies that supply, equip, train, finance or franchise those restaurants, and for owners planning the next one.

How many Japanese restaurants are there in Vietnam?

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) counts Japanese restaurants outside Japan every two years from Ministry of Foreign Affairs data. The figures are approximate and include every restaurant that presents itself as Japanese, whoever owns it. In the MAFF table published in November 2025, Vietnam has about 1,820 Japanese restaurants, up 200 from the 2023 survey. Within Southeast Asia it ranks fourth after Indonesia with about 6,580, Thailand with about 5,920 and Malaysia with about 2,200, and ahead of Singapore with about 1,140 and the Philippines with about 940. Vietnam grew while the Asia total fell from about 122,000 to about 112,400, a drop of about 10 percent, and the world total fell from about 187,000 to about 181,000. MAFF notes the count is based on surveys by Japanese diplomatic missions and rounds to the nearest ten.

Where are they, and what do they serve?

Ho Chi Minh City holds the largest cluster. As of July 2026, Vietnam's largest restaurant listing site Foody carried 1,382 Japanese restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, up 1.6 percent from 2025, and 589 in Hanoi, up 4.2 percent. Japanese food was the largest Asian cuisine category in both cities, with 22 percent of Asian restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City and 25 percent in Hanoi. The city boundaries reflect the July 2025 mergers, so Ho Chi Minh City includes former Binh Duong and Ba Ria Vung Tau. (JETRO Vietnam Export Support Platform, Country report on exports of agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products to Vietnam, July 2026, pages 8 to 9, based on Foody listings)

Da Nang is the third center. The same JETRO report counts 158 Japanese restaurants listed in Da Nang as of July 2026, up 1.3 percent from 2025, out of 755 Asian cuisine listings. JETRO notes that Da Nang, Can Tho and Hai Phong are also seeing fast growth in listed restaurants, including Japanese ones. (JETRO Vietnam Export Support Platform, Country report, July 2026, page 9)

Latest available JETRO city split: in November 2022 the chief representative of JETRO Ho Chi Minh City said Vietnam had about 2,500 Japanese restaurants, of which more than 1,180 were in Ho Chi Minh City, the highest of any city. The figures predate the pandemic. (Tuoi Tre News, Number of Japanese restaurants in Vietnam triples in five years, 29 Nov 2022)

Japanese cuisine is the second most popular Asian cuisine in Vietnam and accounts for about 20 percent of Asian restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a 2024 analysis of 4,767 Asian restaurants on Foody cited by JETRO. (JETRO Vietnam Export Support Platform, Market analysis and marketing report on food and beverages in Vietnam, December 2025, page 11)

What do Japanese restaurants in Vietnam charge?

Published prices from public sources, as of the date shown. They are reference points, not averages.

Michelin-starred Japanese restaurants in Vietnam

The Michelin Guide lists 1 starred restaurants in Vietnam in its Japanese and sushi categories (2026-06). (MICHELIN Guide official restaurant page for Hibana by Koki, cuisine Teppanyaki, price band four, at Capella Hanoi; MICHELIN Guide Ceremony article, MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2026, 4 Jun 2026, which lists 11 one star restaurants, 72 Bib Gourmand and 110 Selected across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, 193 establishments in total. Hibana by Koki is the only Japanese cuisine restaurant among the 11 stars. The 2025 selection had 9 stars and 181 establishments.)

• Hibana by Koki, Hanoi: 1 star, Teppanyaki, retained in the 2026 selection announced 4 Jun 2026

What is changing in 2026?

Who owns and opens Japanese restaurants in Vietnam?

About half of Japanese restaurants in Vietnam were owned and operated by Japanese nationals and the rest by Vietnamese operators, often under franchise, according to JETRO Ho Chi Minh City in November 2022. The same JETRO survey found about 90 percent of customers are Vietnamese, although the restaurants were first opened for Japanese residents. Latest available ownership split. (VietNamNet, Vietnam records boom in number of Japanese restaurants nationwide, 27 Nov 2022; Tuoi Tre News, 29 Nov 2022)

A Vietnamese importer interviewed by JETRO in 2025 said most Japanese restaurants in Vietnam are run by non Japanese owners who are slow to switch ingredients once a supplier is set, which makes new product introduction hard. (JETRO, Market analysis and marketing report on food and beverages in Vietnam, December 2025, buyer interview section)

Japanese chains mostly operate through local franchisees. Lotus Food Group, a Vietnamese company, holds the licences for Marugame Seimen, CoCo Ichibanya and Yoshinoya and ran 8 brands and 28 stores as of July 2024. Golden Gate, one of Vietnam's largest restaurant groups, runs the iSushi chain alongside hot pot brands. Pizza 4P's, a Japanese owned chain with more than 30 stores, was used by 50 percent of survey respondents. (JETRO Business News, 2 Jul 2024; JETRO Country report, July 2026, pages 8 and 10)

Direct Japanese operation is rare but growing. Royal Holdings and Sojitz set up ROYAL SOJITZ VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED in Ho Chi Minh City on 7 Aug 2024 with charter capital of 184 billion VND and ran 10 directly operated stores by 30 Jun 2026. (Royal Holdings news release, 8 Apr 2025; Royal Holdings news letter, 21 Aug 2026)

Recent openings and expansions reported in public sources:

• Royal Holdings and Sojitz opened THE ROYAL, a bar and grill with 59 seats at 41-47 Dong Du, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on 18 Apr 2025, then rolled out the Ineya brand: Hakata Ineya in May 2025, Sumibi Ineya, Yakiniku Ineya, ROLL and TEPPAN Ineya, Ramen Ineya on 30 May 2026 and Tonkatsu Ineya on 30 Jun 2026, reaching 10 stores in about 14 months. (Royal Holdings news release, 8 Apr 2025; Royal Holdings news letter, 21 Aug 2026)
• Genki Sushi opened its first Vietnam restaurant at Saigon Centre, Ho Chi Minh City in 2025 and its second at Crescent Mall on 20 Mar 2026 with 91 seats. Nikkei Asia reported in December 2024 that operator Genki Global Dining Concepts planned four Vietnam outlets by fiscal 2027. (Znews, Genki Sushi opens second restaurant in Vietnam, 20 Mar 2026; VnExpress International, Japanese chain Genki Sushi eyes first Vietnam restaurant next year, 19 Dec 2024)
• Yoshinoya opened a new store on the third floor of AEON Mall Tan Phu Celadon, Ho Chi Minh City, with a grand opening on 13 Dec 2025. (AEON Mall Tan Phu Celadon news, 6 Dec 2025)
• Machida Shoten opened Machida Shoten Nguyen Thai Hoc at 189-191 Nguyen Thai Hoc, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on 20 May 2026 with local partners, its sixteenth overseas franchise store. (Machida Shoten official news, 20 May 2026)
• CoCo Ichibanya is opening at AEON Mall Ha Dong in Hanoi, Lot T149 on the first floor, from June 2026. (AEON Mall Ha Dong store announcement, 2026)
• Saizeriya, a casual Italian chain from Japan, opened its first Vietnam branch at Giga Mall, Ho Chi Minh City in early May 2025, as announced on 15 Apr 2025. It is not a Japanese cuisine restaurant but shows Japanese restaurant groups entering Vietnam. (Viet Nam News, Japanese restaurant chain to open first branch in Viet Nam, 16 Apr 2025)

Who supplies, equips and finances these restaurants?

Fishery products were 49.3 billion yen and agricultural products 45.3 billion yen in 2025. Frozen whole scallops for local processing drove part of the growth. The most imported Japanese food categories by HS code in 2023 were processed foods at 43 percent, frozen fish at 27 percent and seasonings at 5 percent. JETRO Ho Chi Minh City notes that most Japanese restaurants in Vietnam use Norwegian salmon and reserve Japanese salmon for high end and omakase menus. Japanese retail chains such as AEON, Tomibun, Fuji Mart and AKURUHI are widening shelf space for Japanese processed food, snacks and seasonings. (MAFF, 2025 agricultural, forestry, fishery and food export results, 3 Feb 2026, page 4; JETRO, Market analysis and marketing report, December 2025, pages 11 and 21; JETRO Ho Chi Minh City, Issues report, April 2025, page 77, 2026-02)

Every one of these restaurants buys fish, rice, soy sauce and sake, fits out a kitchen, trains staff and signs a lease. Washoku Agent places Japanese chefs in restaurants in Vietnam and 25 other countries, and every placement starts with a restaurant that is opening, expanding or changing its chef. That moment matters to the companies behind the restaurant as much as to the owner. For the importers and wholesalers already serving Japanese kitchens here, see our guide to Japanese food suppliers in Vietnam.

Hiring Japanese chefs in Vietnam

Owners who open or expand in Vietnam ask the same three questions: which visa, what to pay, and how to keep the chef past the first year. Our guide to hiring and managing Japanese chefs in Vietnam answers them with official visa rules and the positions we have handled, and What restaurants pay Japanese chefs in six countries puts the advertised salaries side by side. To see what individual restaurants offered since 2025, country by country, open What restaurants offered Japanese chefs abroad.

Frequently asked questions

Opening or growing a Japanese restaurant? You can bring in an experienced Japanese chef for a defined piece of work, such as a new menu, training for your team, or help with an opening. See how a project works.