Why is there a shortage of authentic Japanese chefs overseas? What the official numbers say (2026)

Restaurants grew faster than chefs. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) counted about 55,000 Japanese restaurants outside Japan in 2013 and about 187,000 in 2023, 3.4 times as many in ten years, while the number of cook licences issued in Japan each year fell by 46.4% over a similar period and one in five cooks in Japan is now aged 65 or over.

The chefs who trained in Japanese kitchens are a finite pool that is ageing, mostly stays in Japan, and can only move abroad through visa routes that narrowed in several countries. This article puts the official numbers side by side, explains what “authentic” means in practice, and lists what a restaurant owner outside Japan can realistically do about it. Every figure links to its government source.

How fast has the number of Japanese restaurants overseas grown?

MAFF publishes a count of Japanese restaurants outside Japan every two years, compiled from Ministry of Foreign Affairs data. The count went from about 55,000 in 2013 to a peak of about 187,000 in 2023, then recorded its first decline, to about 181,000 in 2025, which MAFF attributes mainly to a fall of about a tenth in Asia linked to China’s economy. The survey counts restaurants that serve Japanese food, whoever owns or cooks in them, so it measures demand for the cuisine, not the number of Japanese chefs.

By region in 2025: Asia about 112,400 (from about 27,000 in 2013); North America about 29,400 (from about 17,000 in 2013); Europe about 19,200 (from about 6,700 in 2013); Latin America about 15,300 (from about 2,900 in 2013); Oceania about 2,800 (from about 700 in 2013); Middle East about 1,600 (from about 250 in 2013); Africa about 800 (from about 150 in 2013). Outside Asia the count is still rising: North America, Latin America, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa all added restaurants between 2023 and 2025. Source: MAFF press release, 28 November 2025 and its trend chart (PDF).

Part of the demand is cultural. UNESCO inscribed Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year on its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2013, and the restaurant count more than tripled in the decade that followed.

How many chefs are trained in Japan, and who are they?

Japan’s 2020 census counts 1,822,470 people whose occupation is cook, across every cuisine, from ramen counters to hotel kitchens. 20.5% of them are aged 65 or over, against 15.2% for all workers in Japan, and only 17.5% are under 30. The census does not separate Japanese cuisine from other kitchens, so this is the whole pool from which washoku chefs come.

The inflow is shrinking too. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare records how many cook licences are issued each year. The figure peaked at 42,522 in fiscal 2009 and was 22,771 in fiscal 2024, a fall of 46.4%. The licence is not required to cook, but it is the only national count of people entering the trade through a school or exam.

Sources: Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census, table 9-1-1 (occupation by age); MHLW, trend in the number of cook licences issued (PDF).

Two things follow from these figures. The pool of chefs with years of training in Japanese kitchens is finite and not growing quickly, and most of it never leaves Japan. A restaurant in Singapore, London or Los Angeles is competing for the small share that is willing and able to move.

Why do so few trained chefs move abroad?

Three barriers do most of the work, and all three are documented rather than anecdotal.

• Visas. A chef cannot simply move; an employer has to sponsor a work visa, and the rules tightened in several markets. The UK stopped new Skilled Worker sponsorship for chefs in July 2025, the US has no working-holiday agreement with Japan, and Singapore sets minimum salaries by age for its Employment Pass. Our country guides for the US, the UK and Singapore cite the government pages for each rule.
• Pay and cost of living. Chefs compare the offer with what they earn in Japan and with the rent in your city. Offers that look generous locally can be a pay cut after housing. Our guide to what to pay a Japanese chef abroad shows the advertised ranges by country.
• Language and family. Many chefs trained in Japan start with limited English, and many have families. A move abroad has to work for the household as well as the chef, which narrows the pool further.

There is also a retention problem. Chefs who move and then leave in the first year make the shortage look worse than the headcount suggests. The reasons are mostly fixable by the employer; we list them in why Japanese chefs leave in year one.

What counts as an “authentic” Japanese chef?

There is no licence that makes a chef authentic. In practice the word means a chef who trained for years inside Japanese kitchens, under a head chef, in one tradition (sushi, kaiseki, kappo, tempura, ramen), and who can run a kitchen to that standard. Hiring managers test this with the chef’s record: which restaurants, how many years, which station.

Japan’s government does run one formal scheme, but it is aimed at non-Japanese chefs. MAFF’s Certification of Cooking Skills for Japanese Cuisine in Foreign Countries has three grades. Gold requires five or more years of experience in a Japanese restaurant in Japan and an exam held in Japan; Silver requires a one-year course or two years of experience; Bronze requires a short course and a test. As of 2026-03-31, 3,976 chefs held a certificate worldwide, of whom 28 held Gold. Set against roughly 181,000 restaurants, the scheme shows how thin the certified layer is, and why most owners still hire on experience rather than paper.

What can a restaurant owner do about the shortage?

Four routes exist, and most restaurants end up combining two of them.

• Hire from Japan through a sponsored work visa. Slow (three to six months from search to arrival is typical) but it brings a fully trained chef. Start from our country guides and the salary guide so the offer clears the visa threshold and the chef’s own comparison.
• Hire a chef already in your country on a working-holiday visa. Fast and cheap where the agreement exists (Australia, Canada, the UK, France and others), with limits on duration and sometimes on time with one employer. Details in hiring Japanese chefs on working-holiday visas.
• Train local cooks in one tradition. Send a sous chef to a short course in Japan, or bring a chef from Japan for a fixed period to set the standard and train the team. MAFF’s certification scheme gives you an external benchmark for non-Japanese staff.
• Keep the chef you have. The cheapest chef is the one who stays. Housing help, a clear role, and a realistic first month fix most first-year departures; see why Japanese chefs leave in year one.

Frequently asked questions