Training Local Staff in Japanese Cuisine: A 12 Month Programme

Every Japanese restaurant abroad faces the same risk: the kitchen depends on one or two chefs from Japan, and when one leaves, standards leave with them. The answer is a training programme that turns local cooks into competent Japanese cuisine cooks, with the Japanese chef as teacher rather than sole performer.

This used to be good practice. In some countries it is becoming a condition of sponsorship. This guide sets out how to build a programme, how to benchmark it, and how to document it.

1. Why training local staff is now a hiring issue

• Visa policy. Malaysia is the clearest example. Under its revised expatriate employment policy, a succession plan becomes mandatory for Employment Pass Category II and III holders from 1 January 2027. Category III (basic salary RM5,000 to RM9,999 from 1 June 2026) is where many chef positions fall. Employers will need to show how local staff are being prepared. See hiring a Japanese chef in Malaysia.
• Supply. Chefs from Japan are hard to find. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's ratio of job openings to applicants for food preparation workers in Japan stood at 2.18 in July 2026. Every chef you recruit from Japan has other options at home.
• Turnover. Food service loses staff faster than almost any other sector (see retaining Japanese chefs). A trained bench means one departure is an inconvenience, not a crisis.
• Cost. Local cooks usually cost less to employ and never need a visa.

2. Using the MAFF certification tiers as a benchmark

A training programme needs a standard. The most useful ready-made one is Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) certification of cooking skills for Japanese cuisine in foreign countries, which is aimed at non-Japanese chefs of Japanese cuisine. It sets three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold, each with a defined body of knowledge in four areas: Japanese food culture, hygiene, cooking techniques and omotenashi (hospitality). As of 31 March 2026, 3,976 chefs held a certificate: 28 Gold, 1,337 Silver and 2,611 Bronze.

You do not need to certify anyone to use this structure. The knowledge lists in the guideline give you a syllabus for free. If you do pursue certification, our guide to the MAFF cooking skill certification explains how the operating bodies work.

3. A 12 month training programme

Months 1 to 3: foundations (Bronze level)

• Knife care and sharpening; basic cuts; katsuramuki practice every day for ten minutes.
• Filleting round fish (sanmai oroshi) on low-value fish first.
• Rice washing, cooking and shari seasoning to your recipe, checked by weight and temperature.
• Hygiene: your local food safety rules plus raw fish handling.
• Vocabulary: the fifty Japanese kitchen words your team actually uses.

Months 4 to 8: section competence

• Dashi from scratch, and how it underpins sauces and soups.
• Seasoning ratios for your core dishes, written down.
• Sashimi cuts by fish type; nigiri to a weight standard.
• Running one section at lunch service, then at a quiet dinner service.
• Menu knowledge: where each dish comes from and how to explain it to a guest.

Months 9 to 12: towards Silver level

• Seasonal menus and ingredient selection.
• Presentation and plating standards.
• Ordering, stock rotation and yield for their section.
• Teaching a newer cook one skill.
• Running a section on a busy service without supervision.

4. Turning a Japanese chef into a trainer

Many chefs trained in Japan learned by watching for years before being allowed to touch fish. That approach does not work with a local team on a 12 month timeline, and it is not the chef's fault that nobody taught them to teach. Help them:

• Make teaching part of the job description and the pay review. If it is not measured, it will be squeezed out by service.
• Schedule it. Two protected hours a week, before service, beat "teach when you can".
• Write the recipes down. Ratios, weights, temperatures, photos. Pair the chef with someone who can type and translate.
• Film the techniques. Short phone videos of the chef's own method become your training library.
• Agree how to give feedback. Direct criticism that is normal in a Japanese kitchen can land badly with a local team. Agree a style.

5. Succession planning and evidence

Whether or not your country requires one, a written succession plan is worth having. Keep it simple:

For Malaysia specifically, check the Immigration Department's Expatriate Services Division guidance for the format it expects once the requirement starts. For other countries, a plan like this also supports your case when you renew a work pass or explain to an authority why the foreign hire is still needed.

6. Common pitfalls

• Training only in quiet weeks. Training that stops every time the restaurant is busy never finishes. Protect the two hours a week, even in peak season.
• Skipping the boring foundations. Local cooks want to make nigiri in week one. Rice, knife care and hygiene first; the rest goes faster once those are solid.
• No written standard. "Like I showed you" is not a standard. Weights, temperatures and photos are.
• Training people you will not pay more. A cook who reaches Silver level and sees no change in pay or title will take those skills to a competitor. Link each stage to a pay step.
• One trainer, one trainee. If both leave, you are back where you started. Train at least two people for every critical skill.
• Leaving the Japanese chef out of the plan. Tell the chef at hiring that teaching is part of the job, and put it in their contract and job description. Surprising them with it later breeds resentment.

7. Training resources

• The MAFF guideline itself, in Japanese and English, lists the knowledge and skills expected at each level.
• Reference texts named by MAFF. The Ministry's Q&A on the certification says there is no official textbook, and points to two reference sources: 日本料理大全, published by the Japanese Culinary Academy and available free in Japanese and English via Kyoto Prefectural University's website, and teaching materials from the Japan Association of Training Colleges for Cooks (Japanese only, paid).
• Certification bodies. The five operating bodies listed by MAFF oversee certification bodies that run courses and exams, some of them online. See the certification guide.

General information, not legal or immigration advice. Succession planning requirements depend on the country and pass type and may change; confirm with the relevant immigration authority.