Japan Town in Saigon, centered around Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1, has a unique blend of Japanes and Vietnamese urban culture. It’s a compact neighborhood, spanning roughly 4-5 blocks.
People often miss the area’s narrow alleys between Le Than Ton and Thai Van Lung streets. This area is pretty much deserted during the day time but comes alive at night as an entertainment area containing many small restaurants, massage parlors, and Japanese hostess bars.
Note:
Japan Town offers excellent cuisine and captivating entertainment. It becomes especially photogenic at night after a light rain, with the neon lights reflecting off the wet streets. There are many hostess bars and massage parlors with young girls outside to bring in Japanese and other tourists. These bars are not like the ones on Bui Vien. Here the girls are generally entertainers to pour drinks and compliment you, not working gals. Keep an eye on your bill though as it adds up quickly with lady drinks and plenty of scams here. For instance bottle service is cheap by US standards but pouring a drink from your pre-paid bottle for the girls incurs a lady drink fee.
You will find signs in this area that say photography is not allowed. Though legally doubtful, as Vietnam allows for photography in public places, in the end best to not take photos of unwilling subjects and potentially doxing them. You may also run into “security” demanding you not photograph in this area. I tend to use a short telephoto to keep a distance from the subjects. A fast portrait lens, like a 135mm f/1.8, works well.
