Saeki Selva, with 56 stores in Japan, starts with workforce training for its 100-store push into Vietnam

Saeki Selva Holdings Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kunitachi, Tokyo, is moving forward with a plan to build a network of 100 stores in Vietnam. VietnamPlus, affiliated with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), reported this on September 23, and Inside Retail Asia reported it on September 21. That said, stores were not the first thing to move on this plan. The company established a local subsidiary in Vietnam on May 25, 2026, and announced the fact on its own website on June 1. The corporate registration was completed before the "first store within three years" reported in the news.

SAEKI VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED was established on May 25, 2026 with capital of 80,000 US dollars

According to a news release Saeki Selva Holdings published on June 1, the local subsidiary it established is named "SAEKI VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED." It was established on May 25, 2026, with the company holding a 100% stake, and Kenshi Yamamoto serves as Representative Director. Yamamoto also serves as Senior Managing Director of the parent holding company.

The capital is listed as both 2.08 billion dong and 80,000 US dollars. Since the Vietnamese term tỷ refers to one billion, 2.08 billion dong corresponds to 2.08 tỷ. Working backward from the ratio between the dong and dollar figures gives an implied exchange rate of 1 dollar = 26,000 dong. The release does not give a yen conversion, so this article keeps the two currencies as stated in the original.

The release states the purpose of the establishment as follows: "With future business development in mind, we have established a local subsidiary in order to build a business foundation in the Vietnamese market, which is expected to grow, and to secure and train excellent local talent." The "Business purpose" field in the corporate overview reads Business promotion and talent acquisition in Vietnam and does not mention store operations.

According to VietnamPlus, President Yukihiko Saeki has positioned this move as the first stage of a Southeast Asia expansion and has indicated an intention to combine the hygiene management know-how of Japanese supermarkets with local food culture and lifestyles. That is the only point the company has stated on the record; it has not explained the 100-store figure or the scale of investment.

The first store is planned for Ho Chi Minh City within three years, but no deadline has been given for the 100 stores

VietnamPlus and Inside Retail Asia agree that the first store will open in Ho Chi Minh City within three years. Inside Retail Asia added that this would be the company's first overseas store. The format is a small supermarket aimed at the middle class, and both outlets' descriptions agree on this point as well.

On the other hand, no report attaches a deadline to the 100-store figure. VietnamPlus described it as "an eventual goal," and Nikkei's September 15 article reported that the company has a 100-store rollout in view. The three-year timeframe applies to the first store, not to the 100 stores. If a party evaluating this plan as a market entry destination or business partner conflates the two, its assumed schedule will be significantly off.

At least three years at stores in Japan, then training in store management and product development after returning home

On the content of the training, the two outlets' accounts align. Vietnamese employees learn basic retail operations at stores in Japan for at least three years, then receive training in advanced skills such as store management and product development after returning home.

Nikkei explains this within a longer framework, reporting that the company is focusing on technical intern trainees, that the scope of training spans from food manufacturing to store management, and that the period spans roughly a decade across both Japan and Vietnam. The three years cited in the English-language reports corresponds to the portion of this longer training plan spent in Japan.

It is worth noting a change coming to the Japanese-side system. The Technical Intern Training Program will be phased out and replaced by the new Employment for Skill Development Program, which takes effect on April 1, 2027. According to the Japan International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation Organization (JITCO), the new program will introduce a Japanese-language proficiency requirement at the start of employment that did not exist under the former program. If the first store opens within three years, that opening would come around 2029 at the latest, meaning most of the training plan would proceed under the new system. Companies hiring Vietnamese talent on the premise of training in Japan should map the timing of this requirement change onto their own planning.

The 56 domestic stores are spread across 9 prefectures, from Tokyo to Shimane and Tottori

The English-language reports describe the company as having "56 stores in Japan, mainly in and around Tokyo," while Nikkei called it a "food supermarket chain based in western Tokyo." However, the company's own corporate profile shows that its 56 stores group-wide span 9 prefectures: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Shimane, Tottori, Ibaraki, and Chiba.

Under the holding company, the group operates four subsidiaries: Tokyo Saeki Co., Ltd. (Kunitachi, Tokyo), Foods Market Hock Co., Ltd. (Yasugi, Shimane), Yamanashi Saeki Co., Ltd. (Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi), and Keihin Saeki Co., Ltd. (Kawasaki, Kanagawa). This is a company that has run parallel operations in two distant markets, the greater Tokyo area and the San'in region, not just one confined to the Tokyo suburbs. The holding company was established in March 2011 with capital of 414,647,900 yen, and its corporate profile states, "Our goal is group-wide sales of 100 billion yen."

Aeon Vietnam has 45 small and mid-sized supermarkets, but the figures cannot be compared at the same point in time

It is tempting to place the 100-store figure alongside existing Japanese retailers in Vietnam, but a direct comparison does not hold up as is. the article covering Aeon's capital increase in Vietnam As summarized there, Aeon Vietnam's own distribution network consists of 15 general merchandise stores, 45 small and mid-sized supermarkets, 182 convenience stores, and 29 specialty stores. However, this is the current actual store count, whereas Saeki Selva's 100-store figure has no stated target date. The two cannot be discussed as larger or smaller at the same point in time. As noted in that article, Aeon has publicly stated a goal of tripling its current store count and sales by 2030, and on that premise the figure it is being compared against would itself shift. In addition, no source found in this review states that Aeon's "small and mid-sized supermarkets" and Saeki Selva's "small supermarket aimed at the middle class" are the same format.

Neither the total investment nor a store rollout partner appears in any report

For parties considering a transaction or partnership, what matters in practice is the part that has not yet been decided. As far as could be confirmed, none of the reports or the company's own announcement disclose the total investment for the store rollout, a Vietnamese partner or joint venture partner, the specific location of the first store within Ho Chi Minh City, or the timing for reaching 100 stores. The local subsidiary's 80,000 US dollars is the capital at establishment, not an investment budget for building out the store network. The fact that the ownership stake is stated as 100% shows that, at least at the establishment stage, no Vietnamese capital partner is involved. In a similarly comparable case of a Japanese retailer entering Vietnam, Takashimaya's plan to open in Hanoi disclosed an investment of about 2 billion yen for the department store portion alone. When a figure is disclosed, a proposal can be built by working backward from that scale, but in Saeki Selva's case there is no clue beyond the local subsidiary's capital. For now, the hiring and training of Vietnamese employees at stores in Japan will be the earliest indicator of how this plan is progressing.

Sources

• VietnamPlus, “Japan’s Saeki set to open 100 supermarkets in Vietnam” (September 23, 2026)
• Inside Retail Asia, "Japanese supermarket operator Saeki eyes 100 stores in Vietnam" (September 21, 2026)
• Nikkei Asia, "Japan supermarket begins training for 100-store Vietnam push" (September 19, 2026)
• Nikkei, “Supermarket chain Saeki’s 10-year plan for Vietnamese store managers: training interns toward 100 local stores” (September 15, 2026)
• Saeki Selva Holdings, "On the Establishment of a Local Subsidiary for Business Promotion and Talent Acquisition in Vietnam" (June 1, 2026)
• Saeki Selva Holdings, "Company Profile and History"
• Japan International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation Organization (JITCO), "Employment for Skill Development Program"