Tokyo police bust Vietnamese-themed bar for illegally employing foreign students

Tokyo Metropolitan Police on June 4 arrested three individuals, including the bar’s 30-year-old manager Lam Nguyen and 24-year-old employee Hien Dinh. The group is accused of running an unauthorized girls bar in the city’s Bunkyo Ward, where female staff served and entertained male customers in a hostess-style setting.

The bar, named "LAM", employed several young women who had entered Japan on student visas, permits that do not allow entertainment-related jobs. Employees could be seen wore traditional Vietnamese "ao dai" dresses while soliciting customers on the street and serving drinks behind the counter, FNN reported.

In footage captured by Japanese broadcasters, Dinh was seen wearing ao dai attire while chatting with customers. She reportedly told police she came to Japan for language school and later enrolled in a vocational program. Dinh admitted she responded to a job post on social media, despite warnings from her school that such work was prohibited, TBS News reported.

The police said it would step up crackdowns on similar establishments exploiting student visa loopholes and engaging in illegal nightlife operations.