English Certificate of a Japanese Cook's Licence for a Visa

Most work visa routes do not require a Japanese cook's licence (chourishi menkyo) at all; check the specific route first. Where it helps as supporting evidence of skill, the English certificate comes only from the prefecture that issued the licence, not the one where the chef lives now. Tokyo issues its own English or French certificate for ¥400 in about a week; Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Wakayama run this jointly through the Kansai Koiki Rengo; every other prefecture has its own process, so send the enquiry below before promising the chef or the visa file a date.

1. Does the visa actually need it?

Whether a cook's licence is required at all depends on the country and the visa category, not on the job. Most Western work visa routes (the US, UK, Canada, Australia) assess a chef on work experience and salary, and do not list the Japanese cook's licence as a document. It matters most where a route gives points or credit for a qualification, or where an employer wants extra evidence of skill alongside employment certificates. Check your specific route in our country guide to chef work visas before sending the chef on what can be a two to three week errand for a document nobody asked for.

Where it is not required, a certificate of the licence can still support the chef's claimed experience, alongside the employment certificate covered on our employment and graduation certificates page and, separately, the agriculture ministry's certification of Japanese cuisine cooking skills overseas (in Japanese), which is a different scheme entirely, aimed at skill recognition rather than a legal qualification.

2. The licence is issued by a prefecture, not the country

Article 2 of the Cooks Act defines a licensed cook as a person who has received a licence from a prefectural governor. The governor grants it to someone who completed at least a year at a designated cooking school, or passed the cook's examination after at least two years of work (Article 3); the licence takes effect by registration in the prefecture's own register, and the governor issues the certificate (Article 5).

So an application for an English certificate, or to update the licence, goes to the prefecture that issued it, not the one where the chef lives now. A chef who trained in Osaka but now lives in Tokyo still applies to Osaka's system. This single fact causes more delay than anything else in the process, so confirm it with the chef before you build a visa schedule around it.

3. Getting an English certificate: Tokyo, the Kansai bloc, and everywhere else

Tokyo, in detail

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Public Health issues the certificate to holders of a Tokyo-issued licence. In person, the chef needs the application form, the licence (original and copy), the passport (original and copy) and ¥400, plus ¥460 in stamps if it is to be mailed. By post, send the form, a residence record issued within six months (no My Number), a copy of the licence, a copy of the passport, the fee in cash and a stamped return envelope, all by registered cash mail; the certificate returns by simple registered post. Always phone first so the office can check the licence registration; an agent can apply and collect with a letter of authorisation.

Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Wakayama

These four prefectures run cook's licence exams and certificate services jointly through the Kansai Koiki Rengo (Union of Kansai Governments), whose page lists an English certificate as an available document alongside register correction and reissue. It does not publish a fee or turnaround, so phone the relevant desk (Osaka's page is the usual entry point) before setting a date.

Shizuoka

Shizuoka issues an English certificate only to holders of a Shizuoka-issued licence. Send the application, a copy of the licence and a stamped return envelope to the prefecture's hygiene division; it is ready about two weeks after the papers arrive. A lost licence must be reissued first.

Everywhere else: the enquiry to send

For any other prefecture, have the chef contact the division that issued the licence with this wording, adjusted to the destination country:

4. If the name has changed or the licence is lost

A licence still showing an old name (for example after marriage) will not match the passport, and the visa file will need an explanation. Tokyo's procedures illustrate the pattern most prefectures follow:

The English certificate comes only after the update or reissue, so build that time into the visa schedule, not after the certificate application is refused for a name mismatch.

5. Translation, official seal certification and apostilles: in order

For a country that needs a language other than English or French, use Tokyo's Japanese "original for translation" as the source text. Whether a self-prepared translation needs a translator's signature or notarisation is set by the receiving country's embassy or immigration authority, not by Japan.

If the receiving authority asks for proof the document is a genuine Japanese public document, the two options from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs are official seal certification (koin kakunin) for any destination, or an apostille where the destination is party to the 1961 Hague Convention. Confirm which one, if either, the destination wants before applying; a document with the wrong certification for the country in question has to be redone.

6. Employer checklist

1. Confirm the visa authority actually wants proof of the cook's licence, and in what form (certificate, translation, official seal certification or apostille).
2. Ask which prefecture issued the licence, not where the chef lives now.
3. Check the name on the licence matches the passport; update first if not.
4. Check the chef still has the physical licence; reissue first if lost.
5. For Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo or Wakayama, use the process above; for any other prefecture, send the enquiry wording in section 3 early.
6. Build turnaround (about a week in Tokyo, about two weeks in Shizuoka, unknown elsewhere until asked) and postage time into the visa schedule.

General information, not immigration or legal advice. Certificate conditions, fees and turnaround vary by prefecture and can change. Check the official sources below, verified in September 2026, and contact the issuing prefecture and the receiving country's embassy before applying.