Japanese Restaurants in the US and Canada: 2025 Hiring Data

MAFF counts about 29,400 Japanese restaurants in North America in 2025, which it calls flat against about 28,600 in 2023. Behind that word, the US barely moved (26,360, +1%) while Canada grew fast (3,080, +18%). For an employer, the US market is close to saturated, so an opening usually means taking share and staff from an existing restaurant; Canada is still adding kitchens, so competition for experienced cooks is rising there, even as its work permit rules tighten.

1. North America in the 2025 count

MAFF counts about 29,400 Japanese restaurants in North America, against about 28,600 in 2023, and describes the region as flat. It is the second largest region after Asia, with about 16% of the world total of about 181,000.

2. What MAFF means by North America

In MAFF's tables, North America is the United States and Canada only. Mexico is counted in Latin America, with 7,430 restaurants in 2025; see our Latin America data article. If a pitch or business plan adds Mexico into a "North American market" figure, say so: it changes the total by roughly a quarter.

3. United States and Canada, 2023 and 2025

MAFF rounds each country to the nearest ten. Two points stand out. Canada added more restaurants than the US in absolute terms (470 against 320) from a base one tenth the size, and is now tenth in MAFF's world ranking. The US is second in the world after China, but two years of 1% growth means new openings are roughly matched by closures: this is a market where you compete for an existing restaurant's staff more often than you fill a genuinely new role.

4. The regional trend since 2013

Country figures only exist from 2023; MAFF's 2023 table notes that earlier surveys were not designed for country publication.

The 2025 figure is back to the 2019 level but still below the 2021 peak. North America's share of the world total has fallen from about 31% in 2013 to about 16% in 2025, because Asia and Latin America grew much faster. This is a mature market: growth here comes from taking share, not from a rising tide.

5. Visa route in one line, and where candidates are

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs counts 416,380 Japanese nationals in the US and 75,316 in Canada as of 1 October 2025, more than any other country and fourth in the world respectively; Los Angeles and New York are among the world's top cities for Japanese residents. Full country and city figures are on our Japanese nationals abroad page. For city-level pay and candidates, see New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Toronto.

6. What the data does not tell you

• No state, province or city figures. MAFF publishes country totals only; any "restaurants in California" number comes from another source.
• No split by format. Sushi bars, ramen shops, teppanyaki and grocery sushi counters sit inside one number.
• No reasons for the US and Canadian changes. MAFF gives reasons only at regional level, and calls North America flat.
• Counting method. A restaurant is counted if local websites, directories or guidebooks list it as Japanese, if it belongs to a Japanese restaurant association, if the local Japanese community treats it as Japanese, or if the Japanese diplomatic mission recognises it.

7. What it means for hiring

• In the US, pay and conditions decide who you get, not vacancy volume. With the count flat, a new restaurant usually replaces an old one, and experienced cooks move between employers. See sushi chef salary by country for the current wage benchmarks.
• In Canada, growth means competition for a smaller pool, against a tightening process. An 18% rise in restaurants in two years is fast, while Canada's LMIA advertising and processing rules have lengthened; see our Canada guide and, once you have chosen the route, the LMIA procedure.
• Route choice is the real bottleneck, not market demand. The US has no chef-specific visa, so which of E-2, O-1B or EB-3 you can use depends on your ownership structure and the chef's record, not on how many restaurants are already open.

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.