Vietnamese kindness thrives far from home in Japan

A small garden that brings neighbors together

Early each morning, Le Van Lam, 33, from Binh Duong, now part of Ho Chi Minh City, is at a garden in Aichi, Japan, to water the plants and pick vegetables and fruit to share with nearby neighbors.

Lam has lived in Japan for seven years and works for a company that manufactures electrical cabinets. Outside working hours, he and his friend Nguyen Van Nghia, 28, from Ha Tinh Province in north-central Vietnam, tend a garden where they grow a variety of Vietnamese vegetables, fruits and other crops.

The land belongs to a 75-year-old Japanese man. When Lam first started visiting the garden, he and Nghia would stop by to practice their Japanese and help the elderly man with heavy work.

One day, the man asked whether young Vietnamese people were all that enthusiastic about helping others. The two simply smiled and said yes.

They gradually became close. After learning that the man no longer cultivated the land because he owned several other gardens, Lam and Nghia asked if they could grow vegetables there. He agreed.

“He even used his rakes, excavator and tiller to prepare the soil and brought cow manure in a dump truck to help us,” Lam said.

The two turned the plot into rows of thriving vegetables, while their relationship with neighbors grew stronger.

Nearby elderly residents shared gardening tools and tips with them. In return, Lam and Nghia would give them fresh vegetables and fruit.

The pair also helped the elderly residents clear their gardens, repair their houses and repaint areas damaged by termites. To make daily life easier for them, they even built additional wooden toilets inside their homes.

The neighbors often invited the two Vietnamese men to pick bamboo shoots and fruit and sample local dishes. Lam and Nghia, in turn, cooked Vietnamese food for their elderly friends.

The neighbors also shared cakes, sweets and local specialties with them. Whenever Lam returned to Vietnam, he brought gifts back to Japan.

On one occasion, he gave them Vietnam's non la (conical hats), which they happily tried on while thanking him.

“What we do is actually very small. They have helped us a lot, so we also want to do something in return. Thanks to the garden, we now know almost everyone in the neighborhood,” Lam said.

He has also made a swing and small benches where the elderly residents can sit, rest and chat when they visit the garden.

Kindness grows in another garden

The spirit of kindness extends from Aichi to Ishikawa.

Nguyen Thi Van, 32, from Bac Ninh Province in northern Vietnam, moved to Japan in 2017.

After getting married, she rented a plot of land to grow vegetables and fruit familiar to Vietnamese people, including bottle gourds, pumpkins, sponge gourds, bitter melons, watermelons, okra, tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes.

Whenever she harvests her crops, she shares the produce with her neighbors.

Van mainly uses chicken manure before planting, waters the crops regularly and makes use of rainwater to maintain the garden.

She recalled one occasion when an elderly neighbor saw her pulling weeds. He brought over a grass-cutting machine and told her that, as she had a young child, he could use his machine to help ease her workload.

The simple gesture deeply moved Van.

“I am very grateful to him and feel the sincere care my neighbors have shown my family,” she said.

Van gives her neighbors fresh vegetables, and they return the kindness with dried persimmons, cakes and sweets for her child, and sometimes homemade food.

They have also shown her where to buy seedlings and fertilizer and helped her find bamboo for trellises. Through the garden, Van has found people she can rely on in a foreign country.

Vietnamese supporting compatriots abroad

In Ishikawa, Tran Van Thang, 28, from Hung Yen Province in northern Vietnam, also regularly helps fellow Vietnamese.

He moved to Japan nearly three years ago as a technical intern and remembers receiving help from people who had arrived before him.

As a result, he is always willing to guide and support Vietnamese newcomers.

Once, he met a Vietnamese man at a supermarket who did not know where to buy essential household items. Thang offered to help, and the two gradually became friends.

“That is how Vietnamese people are. We may not know each other, but whenever someone is in need, people are always ready to help,” Thang said.

He also remembers the strong earthquake in 2024. When many people were struggling with shortages of food and essential supplies, Vietnamese people living in less affected areas pooled their money, bought necessities and transported them by car to those in need.

“What touched me was how united everyone was during difficult times. I am always willing to help Vietnamese people who have just arrived here. I hope that anyone who has received help will continue helping others. That is enough to make me happy,” Thang said.