Vietnamese cuisine continues to conquer the Japanese market

The fact that Vietnamese broken rice is officially on the menu at more than 1,000 stores of the Matsuya system - one of Japan's largest fast food chains, is considered an important milestone in the journey of Vietnamese cuisine continuing to conquer the Japanese market.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu attended the event with the desire to promote Vietnamese broken rice in particular and Vietnamese cuisine in general to the people of the host country. (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in Japan)

On August 26, at the Roppongi store of the Matsuya chain, there was an opening event for the menu with the dish "Vietnamese style broken rice with pork rice".

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu attended the event with the desire to promote Vietnamese broken rice in particular and Vietnamese cuisine in general to a large number of reporters as well as people of the host country.

Matsuya system representative, Ms. Aya Aoki, said that during the field survey to open a store in Vietnam, the company team discovered broken rice and was attracted by its flavor. From there, Matsuya came up with the idea of ​​recreating the flavor of Vietnamese broken rice in Japan.

In April 2025, a trial sales program was conducted at selected stores. Thanks to the smooth operation and positive feedback from customers, Matsuya decided to launch Vietnamese broken rice at 1,112 stores nationwide. This is an important milestone in the cooperation process, affirming the success of bringing a Vietnamese dish to a large Japanese restaurant chain.

Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Japan Ta Duc Minh. (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in Japan)

At the event, emphasizing that the official appearance of Vietnamese broken rice at the Matsuya restaurant chain can be considered a turning point in the journey of bringing Vietnamese cuisine to the world , Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Japan Ta Duc Minh said: “Vietnamese broken rice at Matsuya will be served with traditional Vietnamese fish sauce. This is also the first time traditional Vietnamese fish sauce - a typical spice and symbol of Vietnamese culinary culture - has been used in cooking at a large restaurant chain in Japan.”

According to Trade Counselor Ta Duc Minh, to serve the launch of Vietnamese broken rice at Matsuya, 10 tons of fish sauce were imported directly from Vietnam and brought to Matsuya's processing plant. This not only proves the quality and suitability of Vietnamese products for the Japanese market, but also opens a new direction for exporting Vietnamese spices, ingredients and processed foods to Japan.

Counselor Ta Duc Minh said that Japan has a population of more than 126 million people, is a market with large import and consumption demand for products in which Vietnam has strengths such as: agriculture, forestry, and fishery (fruits, frozen foods, seafood, wood products, etc.).

With that advantage, Mr. Ta Duc Minh hopes that this cooperation model is an important premise for many other Vietnamese food products, from rice, coffee to vegetables and processed foods, to gradually conquer the Japanese market. In addition, this also contributes to further strengthening the Vietnam-Japan trade cooperation relationship, bringing Vietnamese agricultural products and food to more Japanese customers in the future.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan, in the first 6 months of 2025, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and Japan reached nearly 24.4 billion USD, an increase of 9.93% over the same period in 2024. Of which, exports of goods from Vietnam to Japan reached 12.81 billion USD, an increase of 11.79% over the same period in 2025; Vietnam's imports from Japan reached more than 11.59 billion USD, an increase of 7.96% over the same period in 2024.

Khanh Lan

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vietnamese-food-continues-to-conquer-the-japan-market-post903879.html