Japanese Restaurants in Latin America: MAFF 2025 Data

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) published its 2025 count of Japanese restaurants outside Japan on 28 November 2025. Latin America added more restaurants than any other region. Our overview article covers the world totals; this one breaks Latin America down by country.

1. Latin America in the 2025 count

MAFF counts about 15,300 Japanese restaurants in Latin America, up from about 12,900 in 2023. That is an increase of about 2,400, or roughly 20%. MAFF attributes it to growing demand for Japanese food driven by the influence of Japanese anime and similar culture.

MAFF's Latin America includes Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. Latin America now has more Japanese restaurants than Oceania, the Middle East and Africa combined, and is about half the size of North America.

2. A decade of fast growth

Shares are our calculation from MAFF's totals. The count has grown more than fivefold since 2013. It more than doubled between 2021 and 2023 alone. Only the much smaller Middle East and Africa counts grew at a similar or faster rate since 2013. It is the only region that grew by more than 2,000 restaurants in both of the last two surveys.

3. All 21 markets, 2023 and 2025

MAFF lists markets with 10 or more restaurants, rounded to the nearest ten. 2023 figures are from MAFF's 2023 country table. Percentages are our calculation.

Jamaica was listed with 10 restaurants in 2023 and does not appear in 2025. The listed rows add up to 15,220, close to MAFF's rounded regional total of about 15,300.

4. Two countries, nearly 80% of the region

Mexico (7,430) and Brazil (4,520) together account for 11,950 restaurants, 79% of the listed Latin American total. Mexico is the fourth largest market in the world in MAFF's count and Brazil the eighth.

The two moved very differently. Brazil added 1,670 restaurants in two years, the second largest gain of any country in the survey after Indonesia. Brazil alone accounts for about three quarters of Latin America's net growth. Mexico, already large, grew by 4%.

5. Rising and falling markets

• Ecuador and Bolivia more than doubled, each adding around 150 restaurants. Both are now bigger than Peru in MAFF's count.
• Central America grew: Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador together went from 250 to 380.
• Colombia fell by 100 (−19%), the largest fall in the region. Chile, Argentina, Peru and the Dominican Republic also slipped slightly.

MAFF gives the anime explanation for the region as a whole and no reasons at country level. The count depends on local sources (websites, directories and guidebooks, Japanese restaurant associations, the local Japanese community, and the Japanese embassy or consulate), so a change in sources can move a small country's figure. Country figures have only been published since 2023, so each country has just two data points.

6. Japanese communities and the Nikkei factor

Brazil has the largest Japanese national population in Latin America. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs counted 49,037 Japanese nationals in Brazil as of 1 October 2025, seventh in the world. That figure counts Japanese citizens only. It does not include Brazilians of Japanese descent (Nikkei) who hold only Brazilian nationality, so it understates the Japanese heritage community.

For hiring, that distinction matters. A Japanese-descended cook in São Paulo may speak Portuguese as a first language and hold local work rights, which makes local hiring far easier than bringing someone from Japan.

7. What it means for hiring

• Brazil is the growth market, and staff will be contested. A 59% rise in two years means many new kitchens looking for experienced Japanese cuisine cooks at the same time. See our Brazil guide and the São Paulo guide.
• Mexico is the largest market but a mature one. Hiring there is likely to be closer to the US pattern of replacing and poaching than to building from scratch. See our Mexico guide.
• Smaller markets need a training plan. In Ecuador, Bolivia or Central America, experienced Japanese cuisine cooks are likely to be scarce. Budget for one experienced lead and a structured programme for local staff (see training local staff).

General information, not investment, legal or immigration advice. Restaurant counts are MAFF's rounded figures as published; shares and percentages are our own calculations from those figures.