Succession Planning in a Japanese Kitchen: Building a Number Two

Many Japanese restaurants abroad depend on one person. The head chef or itamae knows the fish suppliers, holds the shari recipe in their head and sets the standard at the counter. If that person leaves, falls ill or goes home to Japan, the restaurant has weeks, not months, before quality slips. This guide is about building a genuine number two: someone who could run the kitchen tomorrow.

It is different from training local staff in general, which our guide to training local staff in Japanese cuisine covers. Here the focus is one person and one handover.

1. The one-chef risk

Ask three questions about your kitchen:

• If the head chef were away for a month from tomorrow, who would order fish, and would they know what to order?
• Who else can make the shari, dashi and tare to the current standard without asking anyone?
• Who would the regulars at the counter accept?

If the honest answer to any of these is "nobody", you have a single point of failure. A chef who relocated from Japan may plan to go home after a few years, and a resignation from a chef on a sponsored visa can come with little warning if their circumstances change. Building a successor is cheaper than replacing a head chef in a hurry, which, if the replacement comes from Japan, can take months once visas are involved.

2. Choosing the number two

The best cook is not always the best successor. Look for these, roughly in this order:

1. Consistency. The person whose work looks the same on a quiet Tuesday as on a full Saturday.
2. Judgement with product. Can they tell good fish from average fish, and do they care?
3. Calm under pressure. A head chef spends more time solving problems than cooking.
4. Standing with the team. Would the other cooks take instructions from them?
5. Commitment to stay. Ask directly about their plans for the next two to three years.
6. Language. A successor who can talk to both Japanese staff and local staff, and to suppliers, is worth a lot. They do not need to be fluent in both, but they need to be understood.

Consider naming two candidates rather than one, at least at first. It protects you if one leaves, and it avoids setting up a successor before you are sure.

3. What has to be handed over

Write the list down. Most head chefs underestimate how much they carry in their heads. A typical list for a sushi or kappo kitchen:

The "evidence" column matters. "I showed them" is not a handover. A signed off record is.

4. A handover sequence over 12 to 18 months

Hand over in order of risk, from the things that break a service to the things that break a business.

The solo test is the moment of truth. Schedule it for a normal period, not the quietest week of the year. Afterwards, sit down with both of them and list what went wrong. That list is the rest of the training plan.

5. Getting the head chef on side

Succession planning fails most often because the head chef resists it. That is understandable: in many Japanese kitchens, skills are learned by watching over years, and a chef may feel that writing down the shari recipe gives away what makes them valuable. Some also worry that training a successor means they are about to be replaced.

Address this openly:

• Make teaching part of the job. Put it in the job description and contract when you hire. For an existing head chef, agree it as a new responsibility with a clear reason.
• Reward it. A bonus or pay step tied to the successor passing the solo test turns the head chef into an ally.
• Explain what it frees them for. A second site, a group chef role, time off, a visit home. A head chef who cannot leave the kitchen for two weeks is trapped too.
• Say clearly that it is not a replacement plan, if it is not. If it is, because the chef has told you they are leaving, say that too and agree the timetable together.

6. Pay, title and keeping the number two

A trained successor is exactly the person a competitor wants. Plan for that:

• Give a title that says it. Sous chef, nibante (the second at the counter), or deputy head chef. Other staff need to know who is in charge when the head chef is away.
• Link pay to milestones in the handover sequence, not just to time served.
• Use external benchmarks. MAFF's Certification of Cooking Skills for Japanese Cuisine in Foreign Countries has Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. Since the April 2024 revision they are sequential: Silver requires Bronze plus a course of about 150 hours, two years' experience or a MAFF contest placing. A pay step at Silver gives the number two something outside the restaurant to aim for. See our certification guide.
• Be clear about the future. If the head chef plans to return to Japan in two years, the successor should know the job could be theirs.

When you promote, the successor's old job becomes a vacancy. Plan that hire too. See hiring a sous chef if you need to bring in a number two from outside.

7. When succession is a legal requirement

In some countries, planning to replace a foreign specialist with a local one is part of the immigration rules, not just good practice. Malaysia is the clearest example among the markets we cover: under the Expatriate Services Division's revised Employment Pass policy, applications in Categories II and III must include a succession plan from 1 January 2027. Our Malaysia guide has the details.

Even where it is not required, a written succession plan with dated evidence helps when you renew a work permit and need to explain why the role still needs a foreign specialist, or show that you are training local staff.

8. A quick self check

• Is there a named person who could run the kitchen for two weeks from tomorrow?
• Are the core recipes written down with weights?
• Has the successor placed orders with every supplier?
• Has the head chef taken two consecutive weeks off in the last year?
• Does the successor's pay reflect the role?

Three or more "no" answers means succession should be on the agenda at your next management meeting.

General information, not legal or immigration advice. Immigration requirements such as Malaysia's succession plan rule are set by the relevant authority and can change; check the official guidance before relying on them.