The short answer: Saigon’s Japan Town is the block where Lê Thánh Tôn meets Thái Văn Lung, plus the alleys running off both. The nearest metro station is Nhà hát Thành phố, about 250 metres away, not Bến Thành. Ramen runs 120,000 to 220,000₫, an izakaya dinner 400,000 to 700,000₫, and yakitori omakase 800,000 to 1,900,000₫. Most kitchens shut between lunch and dinner, so 15:00 is the worst time to turn up.
Nearly every guide to this neighbourhood is working from an old map. They send you to Bến Thành station when there is one four times closer, they still call it District 1 when the ward changed in July 2025, and three of them recommend a cafe that closed in April. Here is what is actually there.
Where it is
The quarter is about 300 metres of Lê Thánh Tôn and the streets hanging off it: Thái Văn Lung, which is the densest block, plus Thi Sách, Ngô Văn Năm and Đông Du. Hai Bà Trưng bounds it to the west and Tôn Đức Thắng to the east.
The real Japan Town, though, is in the alleys. If you only walk the main streets you will miss most of it.
- Hẻm 15B Lê Thánh Tôn. Where the whole thing started, and still the one to walk first.
- Hẻm 8A Thái Văn Lung. If you have ever seen a Saigon address that reads “8a/a3” or “8A/G8b” and wondered what it meant, this is it. Dozens of small restaurants sit inside one alley complex, stacked and numbered like flats.
- Hẻm 15A and Hẻm 15 Lê Thánh Tôn, and Hẻm 17 Thái Văn Lung. Quieter, and worth a look.
The address you should write is Phường Sài Gòn. Vietnam abolished the district tier on 1 July 2025, and Bến Nghé ward became part of Phường Sài Gòn. Everyone still says District 1, and every restaurant website still prints it, so you will not confuse a driver. It matters when you are filling in a form, and it is a quick test of whether a listing has been touched since 2024.
Getting there
Metro Line 1 to Nhà hát Thành phố puts you about 250 metres from the Lê Thánh Tôn and Thái Văn Lung junction. Ba Son station is at the other end, about 500 metres. Bến Thành, which is where most guides send you, is 1.2 kilometres away. The fare from Bến Thành is 7,000₫, trains run 05:00 to 22:00, and a day pass is 40,000₫.
There is a neat circularity to that. Line 1 was built largely with a JICA loan, over 41,800 billion of the roughly 47,000 billion₫ it cost, and the trains are Hitachi. The metro that drops you at Saigon’s Japanese quarter is itself Japanese money.
Why there is a Japan Town here at all
The businesses came first. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ho Chi Minh City has been organised here since 1993, and it now has more than 1,000 member companies. The restaurants followed in the 2000s, and they started in the alley: twenty years ago there were only a few Japanese places, and they were in Hẻm 15B rather than on the main street.
There is even a formal chamber branch named after these two streets, the TT/LT district branch, which meets regularly and is on its 102nd golf competition. No travel guide mentions it, and it tells you more about the neighbourhood than any amount of atmosphere writing.
The number everyone repeats is wrong
You will read that “around 300 Japanese people” live in this area. That figure has been copied between travel sites for years, mutating from residents to families to households along the way, and nobody sources it.
The real numbers are published. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs counted 9,249 Japanese nationals in Ho Chi Minh City as of 1 October 2025, which is 5% fewer than the year before. Meanwhile Japanese arrivals to Vietnam rose from about 300,000 in 2024 to nearly 385,000 in 2025.
That shift is the story of the place right now. Fewer Japanese people live here, more visit, and the quarter is quietly reorganising itself around visitors. It explains why new restaurants keep opening while a ten-year-old cafe that lived off regulars closed its doors in April.
1. Robata An
Charcoal yakitori and robata grilling, on Lê Thánh Tôn since 2011, and the most reliable door in the quarter: it is open 10:30 to midnight every day and does not shut in the afternoon, which makes it the answer when everywhere else is closed.
15c Lê Thánh Tôn, Phường Sài Gòn · 090 637 3203 · last orders 23:30
2. Ichitori
Yakitori omakase, and the clearest premium price point in Japan Town. Courses run 800,000, 980,000, 1,400,000 and 1,900,000₫, booking required, with cuts of the day and off-menu dishes. Private rooms, and the room it is built for is business entertaining.
8/2 Lê Thánh Tôn · 11:30 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 23:00, daily · no phone published, so you turn up or send someone who speaks Japanese
3. Mameya Saigon
The newest arrival, open since 8 August 2026. Shabu-shabu with tofu made in house to a Nagoya recipe that is over twenty years old, A4 wagyu and Hokkaido pork. Sets are 399,000 pork, 499,000 beef, 599,000 Hokkaido pork, 699,000 salmon and 999,000₫ wagyu. Private rooms, Japanese-speaking service.
2F, 26/4 Lê Thánh Tôn · 11:00 to 23:00, closed Tuesdays · 0966 988 849
4. Kotono
Teppanyaki and okonomiyaki cooked in front of you, and the first overseas branch of a Kyoto original. Wagyu teppanyaki from 680,000₫. Open until 2am, which makes it a late dinner rather than an early one.
8a/5b1, first floor, Thái Văn Lung · 16:00 to 02:00 daily · 086 950 8987
5. Yakiuo Ishikawa
A grilled fish counter from a Tsukiji-trained specialist with branches in Roppongi and Nagoya, on its first venture outside Japan. Otoro, abalone and whatever else came in, grilled piece by piece in front of each seat. Japanese and English spoken, Japanese staff on the floor.
38 Thái Văn Lung · 11:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 22:30, no closing day · 093 382 8768
6. Wakaba
The izakaya to book when there are eight of you. 100 seats and private rooms for 2 to 25, handmade oden, sashimi, grilled fish and obanzai. Course menus starting before 17:30 or after 21:00 come with a free-flow upgrade, which is the local trick for an early or a late dinner.
28 Thái Văn Lung · 16:00 to 02:00 daily · 028 7309 7368
7. Ebisu Shoten
Osaka kushikatsu, deep fried on skewers, plus sashimi and sushi. Open 11:30 until 03:30, which makes it the last kitchen standing on a long night and the reason the quarter does not empty at midnight.
12-14 Thái Văn Lung · daily · 0767 229 439
8. Wakana
Eight years of home-style Japanese cooking, the sort of food Japanese residents eat on a weeknight rather than the showpiece stuff. Free-flow courses from 600,000₫, and an affiliated bar next door for afterwards.
15A/32 Lê Thánh Tôn · 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 22:00 daily · 088 806 2299
9. Zen Saigon
Open since 2000, which makes it one of the oldest Japanese kitchens in the quarter. Sushi, sashimi, grilled dishes and teishoku sets. It opens at 06:00, which sounds like a misprint until you learn the local rhythm: Japanese residents here have long left for work around six and come back to eat at seven or eight in the evening.
20 Lê Thánh Tôn · 06:00 to 22:00 · 028 3825 0782
10. Tori Soba Mutahiro
Chicken ramen rather than pork, a light broth with real depth, and the one to pick in the alley if tonkotsu feels heavy in the heat. Around 120,000 to 160,000₫ a bowl.
8A/G8b Thái Văn Lung · Monday to Saturday, 11:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 02:00, closed Sunday · 0938 478 931
11. Kirimen Ramen
House-made whole-wheat noodles, and a signature Kiritama served with raw egg yolk and a salt sauce at 198,000 to 218,000₫. That is the top of the Saigon ramen range, and the noodles are the reason.
8/14 Lê Thánh Tôn · 11:00 to 14:30 and 17:00 to 22:00, closed Sunday · 0978 967 574
12. Tonkatsu Fujiro
Breaded pork cutlet done properly, and one of the few places here with menus and service in Vietnamese, English and Japanese, so it is an easy first stop if you do not read kanji. Straight through 11:00 to 20:30 with no afternoon break.
8A/8B1 Thái Văn Lung · daily · 098 399 4220
Four more, from someone who eats here every week
Donal has been eating his way around this quarter for years and sent us his own list. His picks are below, in his words. We checked the addresses, hours and prices against each venue’s own listings and directory records in September 2026, and where his account and the paperwork disagree we have said which is which.
He was right about something our own research got wrong, for what it is worth. Skewers at 9a Thái Văn Lung had been filed in our notes as an izakaya, on the strength of the name. It is a Mediterranean bistro and has been since 2000.
13. Shochu Bar Mangetsu
Very popular izakaya with ice cold beers, cocktails such as highballs and amazing food. Highly recommend the grilled eel, roast pork, sashimi. Wide selection of delicious skewers too. Must book or prepare to wait outside until a table is free.
Donal
Evening only, which sets it apart from most of this list. The doors open at 18:00 and it runs to 2am, so it is a place to end up rather than a place to start. Reckon on 200,000 to 700,000₫ a head, and nearer 300,000 to 400,000₫ if you are mostly drinking and picking at skewers.
15/3 Lê Thánh Tôn · Monday to Saturday 18:00 to 02:00, Sunday until midnight · 0328 200 041
14. Sushi Tiger
Donal’s note on this one was two words: “obviously”. It is the tiger noren halfway down Hẻm 15B, and inside it is a proper neighbourhood sushi counter rather than anything built for visitors. Hanshin Tigers posters cover one wall, Japanese fish identification charts are taped to the ceiling, and there is a disco ball that nobody has explained.
Order the nigiri by the plate rather than the set. On our visits that meant inari, tamago, grilled eel and octopus on one, then salmon, seared salmon, lean tuna and a white fish on the next, with cold Sapporo alongside. Prices are written by hand on cards stuck to the wall and they move with the market, so read the wall rather than a menu.
One thing to check before you go. The same unit, 15B/12A, is now also listed under the name KAKU IZAKAYA, with different hours and a different phone number, on a directory page updated in September 2026. Units in this alley do repeat across floors, so that may be a neighbour rather than a replacement, but it may equally be a change of hands. Ring ahead. We would rather say that than send you to a door that has changed since we were last through it.
15B/12A Lê Thánh Tôn · 0764 406 583 · if the tiger curtain is not there, you are at the wrong door
15. Hanakaruta
Japanese izakaya which specialises in Japanese “street food” rather than purely izakaya dishes. Takoyaki, okonomiyaki etc are very popular. A good casual option in Japan Town.
Donal
The cheapest of Donal’s four at 200,000 to 300,000₫ a head, and the one to pick when you want to eat standing-up food sitting down. Directory listings file it as a sushi restaurant and confirm the takoyaki, so the street-food framing is his rather than theirs. He eats there and they do not.
Lê Thánh Tôn, though no listing publishes a house number, so ask once you are on the street · Monday to Saturday 17:00 to 23:30, closed Sunday · 028 3822 1458
16. Izakaya Ten
The vibe is better than the food, but a perfect place for a casual first date or for a group. Great place for after work drinks or a meal.
Donal
An honest recommendation, and a useful one. It trades as Izakaya Ten (Tokyo Drinking Style), runs to 1am on weeknights and 3am on Friday and Saturday, and costs 200,000 to 600,000₫ a head. Sushi, sashimi salads, edamame and skewers, with plum wine, soju and beer doing most of the work.
8D1 Thái Văn Lung · Sunday to Thursday 17:00 to 01:00, Friday and Saturday to 03:00 · 0707 611 777
The rest of the alley, by name
There are more than eighty businesses trading in this quarter, and most of them publish no hours and no prices anywhere. We are not going to invent them. These are confirmed as trading with an address and a phone, so you can find them, and the rest is up to the door.
- Ramen: Ippudo (17/5 Lê Thánh Tôn) · Ramen Ichibanken (8A1 Lê Thánh Tôn) · Ittou (8/8 Lê Thánh Tôn) · Miso Ramen Chikura (8/5 Lê Thánh Tôn) · Gifu Ramen Aki (11 Lê Thánh Tôn) · Yukichi (8A/2B1 Thái Văn Lung, in through the 8A gate) · Shoday (3A1 Ngô Văn Năm) · Futaba (8a/a3 Thái Văn Lung) · Ramen Ineya (17 Ngô Văn Năm) · Hakata Ineya (22 Ngô Văn Năm)
- Izakaya: Torisho (8a/11b1 Thái Văn Lung) · Kamura, a tuna specialist (8a/a14) · Katsu (02A Lê Thánh Tôn) · Sasuke, charcoal (8a/a22) · Gifuya (8a/a7, straight in from the 8A gate, left at the end, two doors down) · Tokitsunada (8a/a9) · En (3 Ngô Văn Năm) · Rikyu Obanzai (17/24 Lê Thánh Tôn)
- Sushi: Sushi Jion (8A/G7A Thái Văn Lung, 18:00 to 01:00, omakase and a la carte) · Sushi World (15E Lê Thánh Tôn) · Sushi Taka (8a/a22) · Sushi Don (15A/27 Lê Thánh Tôn) · Kyobashi (8A/H3 Thái Văn Lung)
- Yakitori and grills: Torikin (8a/a3 Thái Văn Lung, 17:00 to 01:30, morning-killed chicken including the rare cuts) · Torimitsu (8A6b1) · Kuwa (8A/5B1) · Gyoza no Chikara (8a/h1) · Okonomiyaki Shu (15B11 Lê Thánh Tôn, at the head of the alley) · Miyakoya, okonomiyaki (8/6 Lê Thánh Tôn)
Our guide to the best ramen in Saigon goes deeper on the noodle shops in these alleys. One warning about alley addresses: several of these share a unit number on different floors, so 8A/5B1 is both Kotono and Yakitori Kuwa. Read the signs rather than the number.
Not Japanese, in the same alleys
Three Saigon Scene partners sit inside this quarter, and it would be odd not to say so.
7 Bridges Brewing is at 15B/12 Lê Thánh Tôn, in the same alley where Japan Town began, and is a Vietnamese craft brewery rather than a Japanese bar: the beer answer when everyone else wants highballs. 10% off with the Saigon Scene app. See the offer at 7 Bridges Brewing.
L’Usine at 19 Lê Thánh Tôn is the daytime option, a cafe and shop on the main street, and Saigon Boat Company is at 15B/24 Lê Thánh Tôn, a few doors from the brewery, for river trips. Both also give 10% off with the Saigon Scene app: L’Usine and Saigon Boat Company.
Our wider guide to the best Japanese restaurants in Saigon covers the rest of the city. If you want Japanese food without coming here, two of our partners do it elsewhere in the centre: NORI on Lý Tự Trọng and Izakaya RŌNIN on Pasteur, both 10% off with the app.
What it costs in 2026
| What | Per head |
|---|---|
| A bowl of ramen | 120,000 to 220,000₫ |
| Izakaya dinner | 400,000 to 700,000₫, more with free-flow |
| Shabu-shabu set | 399,000 to 999,000₫ |
| Teppanyaki wagyu | from 680,000₫ |
| Yakitori omakase | 800,000 to 1,900,000₫ |
| Sushi omakase | upward of a million dong, though no current price is published inside the quarter |
| Metro from Bến Thành | 7,000₫ |
How to do it without getting it wrong
- Do not arrive at 15:00. Most kitchens here close between lunch and dinner, typically 14:00 to 17:00 or 18:00. Robata An, Ebisu Shoten and Tonkatsu Fujiro stay open through.
- Sunday thins out. Mutahiro, Kirimen and several others close.
- Book the counters. Ichitori requires it, and the good fish counters have a handful of seats.
- Walk the alleys, not the street. Hẻm 15B first, then in through the 8A gate on Thái Văn Lung.
- Know what kind of bar you are entering. Thái Văn Lung has hostess clubs, snack bars and girls bars alongside ordinary ones, and they work on a table charge per person plus drinks bought for staff. That is a normal model, not a scam, but the bill grows fast and it is not always posted. Ask what the table charge is before you sit down. Six people were indicted in March 2026 over a bill dispute at one bar on this street, which is one incident and not the character of the place, but it is the reason to ask.
What changed recently
- Tokyo Moon closed on 12 April 2026 after ten years. It was the 15-seat cafe with the seating time limit, and three guides still ranking today recommend it. Rents in the quarter were cited as background pressure.
- MUJI reopened its flagship on Lê Thánh Tôn on 27 November 2025, over 3,300m² across two floors with a cafe upstairs. It is the largest MUJI in Vietnam and not one competing guide mentions it.
- Mameya opened in August 2026, which is the clearest sign the quarter is still growing even as the resident population falls.
How we put this together
Addresses, hours and prices come from each venue’s own site where one exists, and otherwise from dated Japanese-language Vietnam directories and live ordering listings, checked in September 2026. The street and alley names were pulled from OpenStreetMap rather than copied from other guides. Resident numbers come from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, business numbers from the Japanese Chamber of Commerce here, and metro figures from the line’s own published fares.
Entries 13 to 16 were suggested by Donal, who lives here and eats in this quarter most weeks. We checked each one independently before publishing and have flagged the two places where the records and his account differ. Photographs of Sushi Tiger are our own, taken on earlier visits to the alley. Where a venue publishes no hours or prices, we have named it and left it at that rather than guess. Three of the businesses in this guide are Saigon Scene partners, and we have said which and where. Kitchens in this quarter change hands quickly, so if something here is wrong, tell us and we will check it.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Saigon's Japan Town?
Around the junction of Lê Thánh Tôn and Thái Văn Lung in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, plus Thi Sách, Ngô Văn Năm and Đông Du, and the alleys off them. The nearest metro station is Nhà hát Thành phố, about 250 metres away, not Bến Thành, which is 1.2km. The area is now in Phường Sài Gòn after Vietnam abolished districts on 1 July 2025.
What is Little Tokyo Saigon known for?
Japanese restaurants run largely by Japanese owners, packed into alley complexes rather than along the main street. Ramen, izakaya, yakitori, sushi counters, okonomiyaki and teppanyaki, plus hostess and snack bars on Thái Văn Lung. More than eighty businesses trade in the quarter. It started in Hẻm 15B Lê Thánh Tôn in the 2000s, after Japanese companies had been organised here since 1993.
How much does it cost to eat in Japan Town Saigon?
A bowl of ramen is 120,000 to 220,000₫. An izakaya dinner runs 400,000 to 700,000₫ a head, more with free-flow drinks. Shabu-shabu sets are 399,000 to 999,000₫, teppanyaki wagyu from 680,000₫, and yakitori omakase 800,000 to 1,900,000₫. Prices checked September 2026.
What time do Japan Town restaurants close?
Most close between lunch and dinner, usually 14:00 to 17:00 or 18:00, then run late. Robata An is open 10:30 to midnight without a break, Tonkatsu Fujiro straight through to 20:30, and Ebisu Shoten until 03:30. Several places close on Sunday, including Tori Soba Mutahiro and Kirimen Ramen.
How many Japanese people live in Ho Chi Minh City?
9,249 as of 1 October 2025, according to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is 5% down on the year before. The figure of around 300 Japanese residents that travel sites repeat for this neighbourhood has no source. Japanese visitor numbers went the other way, from about 300,000 arrivals in 2024 to nearly 385,000 in 2025.
Which alleys should I walk in Japan Town?
Hẻm 15B Lê Thánh Tôn first, because that is where the quarter started and it still has depth. Then Hẻm 8A Thái Văn Lung, which is the alley complex behind all those addresses that read 8a/a3 or 8A/G8b. Hẻm 15A and Hẻm 15 Lê Thánh Tôn and Hẻm 17 Thái Văn Lung are quieter and worth a look.
Are the bars on Thái Văn Lung safe?
The street has hostess clubs, snack bars and girls bars next to ordinary ones. They work on a table charge per person plus drinks bought for staff, which is a normal model rather than a scam, but the charge is not always posted and the bill grows quickly. Ask what the table charge is before you sit down. Six people were indicted in March 2026 over a bill dispute at one bar on the street.
How do I get to Japan Town by metro?
Metro Line 1 to Nhà hát Thành phố station, then walk about 250 metres. Ba Son station is at the other end, roughly 500 metres. The fare from Bến Thành is 7,000₫, a day pass is 40,000₫, and trains run 05:00 to 22:00. Line 1 was built largely with a Japanese JICA loan and runs Hitachi trains.
Is Tokyo Moon still open?
No. The 15-seat cafe with the seating time limit closed on 12 April 2026 after ten years, with rising rents in the area cited as background pressure. Several guides still recommend it.
