Japan's Cook Labour Market: Job Ratios, Pay and Turnover (2026)

If you plan to bring a chef from Japan, you are competing with every restaurant, hotel and food factory in Japan for the same people. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) publishes three sets of numbers that describe that competition: how many vacancies there are per job seeker, what cooks are paid, and how often people in the sector change jobs. This page puts the latest of each in one place, as of September 2026.

1. Why a restaurant abroad should watch Japan's numbers

A cook in Japan who is thinking about a job overseas is weighing it against the jobs available at home. When Japanese restaurants are short of staff, that cook has more choices, better pay offers and less reason to take the risk of moving. The numbers below tell you how strong your offer needs to be, and how long a search from Japan is likely to take.

2. Job openings per applicant

MHLW's monthly report on the public employment service (Hello Work) gives a ratio of active job openings to active job seekers for each occupation. The category for cooks is 飲食物調理従事者 (food and drink preparation workers), which covers restaurant cooks as well as other kitchen roles.

A ratio of 2.18 means about 218 openings for every 100 people looking for work as a cook. The ratio has come down every year since 2023, but it is still about twice the level for all occupations. Serving and waiting staff (接客・給仕職業従事者) were at 2.30 in July 2026, so front of house is just as tight.

The 1.05 figure for all occupations is from the same occupational table, which is not seasonally adjusted. The headline figure MHLW announced for July 2026, which is seasonally adjusted, was 1.18.

3. Inside the July 2026 figures

The occupational table for July 2026 (released 28 August 2026) gives the underlying counts.

Against a year earlier, active openings for cooks (including part-time) were down 7.0% and active job seekers up 1.5%, which is why the ratio fell by 0.20 points. For full-time roles only, the ratio was 1.83 against 1.16 for all occupations.

The flow figures are the more telling ones. In July 2026 there were more than three new openings for every new cook registering as a job seeker. Employers in Japan are posting jobs faster than cooks come onto the market.

4. What cooks in Japan earn

MHLW's Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) for 2025 reports, for 飲食物調理従事者:

Twelve months of scheduled earnings plus the bonus comes to about ¥3.79 million a year. That is our calculation, not a figure MHLW publishes.

For a wider view, the National Tax Agency's survey of private sector pay for 2024 puts average annual pay in accommodation and food services at ¥2,793,000, the lowest of any industry, against ¥4.78 million across all industries. It covers everyone employed in the industry, not only cooks.

Salaries in the countries where you would hire are set in other currencies and under other rules. For a side-by-side view without currency conversion, see sushi chef pay abroad and sushi chef salary by country.

5. How often people join and leave

MHLW's Survey on Employment Trends (雇用動向調査) for 2025 measures hires and separations as a percentage of employees. Accommodation and food services has the highest overall hiring and separation rates of any industry.

In absolute numbers, the industry hired 1,220,600 people in 2025, more than any other industry, and lost 1,042,700. Roughly one in five full-time workers in the sector left their employer during the year.

Two points for employers abroad. First, people in this sector change jobs often, so a candidate who has moved several times is normal, not a warning sign in itself. Second, the churn means there is always a pool of people between jobs; the question is whether your offer reaches them. More on turnover in restaurant staff turnover.

6. What it means for hiring from Japan

• Expect competition. With more than two openings per cook, a candidate may hold offers from Japan while talking to you. Move quickly from interview to offer.
• Set pay against the Japanese benchmark, then add the move. The overseas salary will usually be driven by visa rules and local pay, but the candidate will compare the take-home with what they earn now, around ¥3.8 million a year on average. Housing, flights and the cost of the first months abroad weigh heavily; see relocation packages for chefs.
• Allow time. Employers in Japan are posting jobs faster than cooks come onto the market. A search from Japan for a head chef is rarely quick; see staffing an overseas opening for a 12-month schedule.
• Think about part-time and full-time separately. The full-time ratio (1.83) is tighter than the all-occupation full-time ratio (1.16), but less extreme than the headline cook figure. Experienced full-time cooks are the group you are fishing for.

7. Limits of the data

• Hello Work only. The job ratio counts vacancies and job seekers registered with the public employment service. Vacancies advertised only through private job boards or agencies are not included.
• Broad category. 飲食物調理従事者 covers all food preparation work, not only restaurant chefs, and not specifically Japanese cuisine.
• Industry, not occupation, for turnover. The hiring and separation rates are for the accommodation and food services industry as a whole, including hotel and front of house staff.
• Different reference periods. Monthly pay is for June 2025, bonuses for 2024, turnover for 2025 and job ratios for July 2026.

General information, not legal or employment advice. Figures are from Japanese government statistics as of September 2026; check the sources below for the latest releases.