Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassadors Explained

Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassadors (日本食普及の親善大使) are private experts appointed by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to spread Japanese food abroad. For owners of Japanese restaurants overseas, the scheme can affect how your cooks gain cooking skill certification, and you might be nominated yourself.

This guide uses MAFF's founding rules and published material to explain, as of September 2026, how the scheme works, how many ambassadors there are, and the requirements and appointment process.

1. What the scheme is

The scheme rests on MAFF's rules for establishing the Japanese Cuisine Special Goodwill Ambassador and Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassadors (設置要綱). They were set on 26 February 2015 and last revised on 10 April 2026. The rules create two kinds of ambassador.

Goodwill Ambassadors may use the title "日本食普及の親善大使" and "Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassador" only while in office. The rest of this guide is mainly about the Goodwill Ambassadors.

2. How many there are, by region

According to MAFF's list (as of December 2025), there are 171 ambassadors overseas (in 70 countries and regions) and 54 in Japan, 225 in total. The overseas ambassadors break down by region as follows.

The first appointments were made in February 2015, and the list of ambassadors based in Japan runs up to appointments made in March 2019. Recent appointments have been of people based overseas: 9 in fiscal 2024 (announced 20 December 2024) and 15 in fiscal 2025 (announced 15 December 2025).

The 15 appointed in fiscal 2025 are based in India, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States (three), Brazil, Honduras, Colombia (two), Greece, Armenia, Spain, Sweden and Ghana. They include Japanese restaurant owners and head chefs, and heads of sushi schools and associations.

3. Requirements for ambassadors

The rules say a Goodwill Ambassador must be a person working in Japanese food and food culture who meets all of the following:

1. A track record of public-interest work spreading Japanese food and food culture abroad
2. The intention to keep doing that work after appointment
3. A network of businesses and experts in Japanese food and food culture, in Japan and abroad
4. The ability to communicate to audiences in Japan and abroad
5. Good character, and knowledge and ability in Japanese food and food culture
6. Based overseas, and expected to keep working from that base for more than two years after appointment
7. Never previously dismissed or had an appointment cancelled

Note that the public-interest track record comes first. The wording suggests that success in running a restaurant is not enough on its own; what is looked for is promotion that goes beyond your own business, such as teaching cooking or creating opportunities to introduce Japanese food.

4. How appointment works and who can nominate

You cannot apply to become an ambassador. Candidates are nominated by a recommending body, reviewed by a selection committee, and appointed by the Director-General of the Export and International Affairs Bureau. The committee is made up of existing ambassadors and experts in Japanese food and food culture.

The rules list these recommending bodies:

• Heads of Japanese diplomatic missions abroad
• Heads of JETRO's overseas and domestic offices
• Export support platforms (frameworks made up mainly of JETRO overseas offices and diplomatic missions)
• Members of the national council for promoting agri-food exports (農林水産物等輸出促進全国協議会) and their overseas offices
• Heads of food industry bodies (全国調理関係団体連盟, 日本調理師会, 全国日本調理技能士会連合会, 全国調理師養成施設協会, 日本全職業調理士協会, 日本料理研究会, 全日本・食学会, 全国すし商生活衛生同業組合連合会)
• Other organisations in Japan (only those to which neither the candidate nor relatives within the third degree belong)

MAFF says the fiscal 2025 appointments were made "with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others". Given the list of recommending bodies, the most accessible first contact for someone working abroad who hopes to be nominated is likely the local Japanese embassy or consulate, or a JETRO office. However, we could not confirm from published material when nominations are invited or the exact procedure.

5. Activities and obligations after appointment

The rules set out three kinds of activity for ambassadors:

• Their own public-interest work and communication through the media
• Cooperation with MAFF and other projects that include spreading Japanese food and food culture
• Other activities approved by the Director-General

There are also obligations:

• Annual reporting. Ambassadors report their activities each fiscal year to the body that nominated them, which checks the report and passes it to the Director-General.
• Advance notice of a move. An ambassador who changes the overseas country or region they are based in must tell their nominating body in advance where they are moving and why.
• Dismissal and cancellation. An ambassador can be dismissed if they no longer meet the requirements, and an appointment can be cancelled if the nomination papers contained false statements.

6. What it means for Japanese restaurants abroad

Experience at your restaurant can count towards certification

MAFF's certification of cooking skills for Japanese cuisine overseas includes work experience requirements for Silver and Gold, but overseas experience counts only if it was gained at an overseas Japanese restaurant recommended by a Goodwill Ambassador. If you want local staff to reach the higher levels through the work experience route, a connection with an ambassador matters directly. Check how recommendations are handled with the certifying body before relying on this. Details are in the certification explained (Japanese).

They sit at the centre of local Japanese food networks

Ambassadors are required to have networks in Japanese food, so they can be a way into the local community of Japanese restaurant chefs and associations. However, the scheme gives them no role in placing staff. Any conversation about hiring stays within a personal relationship.

You might be nominated yourself

Owners and head chefs who have run a Japanese restaurant abroad for many years and have also taught cooking or organised Japanese food events locally may meet the requirements. The title can be used while in office, which can also help show that a restaurant is credible.

7. Where it sits in government policy

MAFF's Export Expansion Strategy (revised May 2025) says that improving the understanding and skills of foreign chefs who cook Japanese food abroad is a foundation for increasing the number of Japanese restaurants that use Japanese ingredients on a continuing basis. Alongside training visits to Japan for foreign chefs of Japanese cuisine, skill certification and sending instructors to cooking schools abroad, it names the appointment of Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassadors as one of the measures.

The strategy also mentions coordination with a scheme for chefs at Japan's diplomatic missions (在外公館料理人制度) that was due to start in January 2026. In other words, the ambassador scheme is part of export policy. For the export figures, see Japan's agri-food exports for Japanese businesses; for the number of Japanese restaurants abroad, see Japanese restaurants abroad: the data (Japanese).

General information, not an official explanation of how the scheme is run. Content was checked against MAFF's founding rules and published material as of 22 September 2026. For nominations, contact a Japanese diplomatic mission, JETRO or MAFF's Export and International Affairs Bureau directly.