What to Pay a Japanese Chef Abroad: Advertised Salaries in 6 Countries (2026)

Owners outside Japan ask us the same first question: what does a Japanese chef cost here? This guide answers it with the pay that Japanese restaurants in six countries were advertising for sushi chefs, sous chefs and head chefs, in two groups: adverts on local job boards in September and October 2026, which are written for local hires, and adverts Washoku Agent has published for chefs hired from Japan (2024 to 2026), which are on a higher scale. It adds the government wage data for the trade, what the adverts include (tips, tronc, superannuation, housing) and what a chef hired from Japan needs on top. Each country opens with the going rate by role, with a US dollar estimate. The adverts behind the figures are listed under each country. None of the figures is Washoku Agent’s placement data.

How to read advertised pay

• Two kinds of adverts. Local job-board adverts show what a restaurant pays a local hire. Adverts for chefs hired from Japan add the visa minimum, relocation and housing, and sit well above them. Each country shows both, the Japan-hire band first.
• Advertised pay is the opening offer. Head chef adverts in New York, Singapore and Melbourne show wide ranges because the final figure depends on the candidate; the top of the range is what the market pays a proven chef.
• Hourly adverts carry an annual estimate in brackets: the hourly rate times the standard week (US 40, UK 37.5, Australia 38, France 35 hours) times 52 weeks, before overtime, tips or penalty rates.
• The basis differs by country. The US and the UK mix hourly and annual, Singapore and France quote gross monthly pay, Australia quotes annual pay plus superannuation. Gross is not take-home.
• Extras change the number. New York hourly roles add tips, London adds tronc (pooled service charge), Australia adds 12 percent superannuation and penalty rates, Dubai adverts often say ‘all-inclusive’ or ‘tax-free’ and may include housing.
• Government statistics cover all chefs. The US median for chefs and head cooks (USD 62,470) and the Singapore median for chefs (S$3,650 gross a month) sit below most Japanese-restaurant adverts for trained sushi chefs, which is the premium you are paying for.
• US dollar estimates use the ECB reference rates of 2026-10-09 (AED at the fixed peg) and move with the exchange rate.

United States: what restaurants advertised

Hourly roles are usually ‘plus tips’; salaried roles list health insurance, 401k and paid time off. None of the local job-board adverts offered housing; the adverts for chefs hired from Japan, shown first, often add rent help and a flight. Posting dates are shown where the board gave them.

• Median annual wage for chefs and head cooks: USD 62,470 in May 2025 (USD 30.03 an hour); the lowest 10 percent earned less than USD 37,900 and the highest 10 percent more than USD 98,560. Restaurant cooks: median USD 17.98 an hour. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, August 2026)

Singapore: what restaurants advertised

Adverts quote gross monthly pay in Singapore dollars; none of the local job-board adverts mentioned housing, meals, service charge or a work pass. A chef hired from Japan needs an Employment Pass (minimum S$5,600 a month at age 23, rising with age, S$6,000 from 2027) or an S Pass (S$3,300 to 4,800), so the adverts below show where local pay sits against those floors.

• Ministry of Manpower Occupational Wage Survey 2025 (June 2025 wages, full-time resident employees): chefs excluding pastry chefs, gross monthly wage 25th percentile S$2,743, median S$3,650, 75th percentile S$4,784; kitchen operations heads median S$4,517; cooks median S$1,897. Foreign pass holders are not in this base. (MOM Occupational Wages 2025, Table 4, June 2026)
• Employment Pass minimum qualifying salary S$5,600 a month at age 23 and under, rising to S$10,700 at 45 and over (S$6,000 to 11,500 from 1 January 2027); S Pass S$3,300 to 4,800 (S$3,600 to 5,100 from 2027). (MOM, Employment Pass and S Pass eligibility, April 2026)

United Kingdom: what restaurants advertised

London adverts are split between hourly pay (often ‘including tronc’, the pooled service charge) and annual salaries for chef de partie and head chef roles. Two adverts named visa sponsorship, one only for chefs already sponsored in the UK. New sponsorship of chefs from Japan is not currently possible; the pool is Youth Mobility Scheme holders and chefs who already hold the right to work.

• National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over: GBP 12.71 an hour from April 2026, which is about GBP 24,800 a year on a 37.5 hour week. Every London sushi chef advert above sits GBP 3 to 7 an hour over it before tronc. (GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, April 2026)

Australia: what restaurants advertised

Adverts quote annual pay, usually ‘plus super’ (superannuation, 12 percent from July 2025). Several adverts name regional or standard visa sponsorship; one regional employer offered accommodation with the worker paying utilities. Penalty rates for evenings and weekends come on top under the Restaurant Award.

• Restaurant Industry Award 2020, full-time weekly rates from 1 July 2026: Cook grade 2 AUD 1,062.90 (AUD 27.97 an hour), Cook grade 3 tradesperson AUD 1,119.10 (AUD 29.45), Cook grade 4 AUD 1,189.40 (AUD 31.30). Grade 3 is about AUD 58,000 a year before superannuation and penalty rates; the Japanese-restaurant adverts above sit well above the award. (Fair Work Commission, MA000119 clause 18, July 2026)
• Skills in Demand visa (482) Core Skills Income Threshold: AUD 79,423 a year for nominations from 1 July 2026, and the offer must match the market rate for the role. (Home Affairs, salary requirements, July 2026)

France: what restaurants advertised

French job-board adverts quote gross monthly pay on a 35 to 42 hour week, mostly at or near the minimum wage for cooks and chefs de partie, with no housing or visa support: they are written for local hires. Adverts for chefs hired from Japan, shown first, are on a different scale. Cooks are on the regional shortage list, which simplifies work authorisation.

• SMIC (minimum wage): EUR 12.31 gross an hour, EUR 1,867.02 gross a month for 35 hours. The hotels, cafes and restaurants collective agreement sets grades above it; employer federation GHR notes that the SMIC now exceeds the lowest grades of the current grid, with a new grid pending. (Service-Public, SMIC; GHR, June 2026)

United Arab Emirates: what restaurants advertised

Most Dubai adverts carry no pay figure. Of the few that do, the number is often ‘all-inclusive’ (basic plus allowances) and ‘tax-free’; hotel groups and larger employers include housing and transport allowances and visa assistance. No official wage statistic for chefs was found.

• No government occupational wage table for chefs and cooks was found for the UAE, and we did not find a published national minimum wage for the private sector. Treat Dubai adverts as the only public benchmark and ask what ‘all-inclusive’ covers. (Search of UAE government sources, October 2026, October 2026)

What a chef from Japan needs on top of the advertised rate

A chef hired from Japan is not a local hire at the advertised rate. The package has to clear the visa floor where one exists, cover the move, and hold the chef past year one. These are the lines to add to the advertised figure.

Salary bands, visa routes and retention advice for each country are in our hiring guides:

Frequently asked questions