Writing a Japanese Job Ad for Chefs: Pay, Days Off, Visa Wording

If you want applications from chefs who are in Japan now, your ad has to read like a Japanese job ad. Chefs in Japan are used to a fairly standard layout, a particular way of stating pay, and precise terms for days off. An ad that ignores those conventions looks vague at best and suspicious at worst.

This guide explains the conventions that matter most, with the official definitions behind them, and ends with a short Japanese template you can adapt. For the English version of the ad, use our sushi chef job description template.

1. Why a translated English ad does not work

• Hourly pay reads as part-time work. Full-time jobs in Japan are usually advertised with monthly pay and an annual figure.
• "Two days off a week" is ambiguous. In Japanese there are two different terms, and readers notice which one you use (section 4).
• Missing items raise doubts. Japanese readers expect certain items in every ad. If they are missing, the reader assumes the answer is bad.
• Machine translation is obvious. Stiff or odd phrasing suggests the employer will be hard to communicate with once the chef arrives.

2. What Japanese readers expect to see

Japan's Employment Security Act rules require employers recruiting in Japan to state minimum working conditions in job ads, and a revision effective 1 April 2024 added three items. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's leaflet lists the full set:

Whether these Japanese rules bind a foreign employer advertising a job abroad is a question for a Japanese lawyer, and it may depend on how and where you recruit (using a Japanese agency or job site, for example). Either way, following the format costs nothing and meets the reader's expectations.

3. Salary: annual pay, monthly pay and bonus

Japanese pay is usually thought of as monthly pay plus bonuses. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's 2025 wage survey puts average monthly regular pay for food preparation workers (飲食物調理従事者) at ¥286,600 (June 2025) and annual bonuses at ¥351,600, a little over one month's pay. That is the frame your reader has in mind.

• Lead with 年収 (annual pay) and show 月給 (monthly pay) as well. If there is no bonus, say so, and say instead that the annual figure is paid in twelve instalments.
• Show local currency first, then an approximate yen figure with the exchange rate and date you used: 年収 60,000米ドル（約XXX万円、1ドル＝XXX円で換算、2026年9月時点）. It saves every reader doing the sum, and the date keeps you honest when rates move.
• Separate guaranteed pay from variable pay. Tips and service charge are unfamiliar to many chefs from Japan. Give a realistic range and say it is not guaranteed.
• Mention cost of living. A figure that looks high in yen may not be high in your city. One honest line about rents builds trust.

For local salary benchmarks, see sushi chef salary by country.

4. Days off: 週休2日制 is not 完全週休2日制

This is an easy mistake for non-Japanese employers to make, and Japanese readers look for it.

• 完全週休2日制 means two days off every week.
• 週休2日制 on its own covers systems with two days off in only some weeks. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's working conditions survey classes arrangements such as two days off three times a month, every other week, twice a month or once a month as "systems with substantially fewer days off than 完全週休2日制". Hello Work job forms make the same split, marking the 週休二日制 field 毎週 (every week) for 完全週休2日制 and その他 (other) for everything else.

If you give two days off every week, write 完全週休2日制 and name the days or say they rotate: 完全週休2日制（シフト制、月8日以上）. If you do not, do not write 週休2日制 and hope. Write the monthly number: 休日 月6日（シフト制）.

Also give 年間休日 (annual days off) as a number. Japanese readers compare it across ads. For reference, the Ministry's 2025 survey of companies with 30 or more employees found an average of 112.4 annual days off per company across all industries in 2024. The same survey found that accommodation and food services had the longest scheduled working week (40 hours 2 minutes) and the lowest paid leave uptake (50.7%) of any industry. If your hours and leave are better than that, say so plainly. It is one of your strongest selling points.

5. 社会保険 and what to write instead

Japanese ads often say 社会保険完備, meaning the employer enrols staff in Japan's health insurance, employees' pension, employment insurance and workers' accident insurance (the four items in the Ministry's own example). A restaurant abroad that hires a chef locally is not offering those Japanese schemes, so do not copy the phrase.

Instead, list what you actually provide under 加入保険・福利厚生: the local health cover (public or private), pension or retirement contributions, workers' compensation, and anything else. Remember that a chef who moves abroad for a year or more generally leaves Japan's National Health Insurance, and stops being a compulsory member of the National Pension, though Japanese nationals may join the pension voluntarily. Chefs know this, and they will read your insurance line carefully. See onboarding a chef from Japan for the procedures.

6. Visa support wording

Be exact. "ビザサポートあり" can mean anything from paying every fee to sending a letter. Say which of the following applies:

• 就労ビザのスポンサーになります（申請費用・専門家費用は当社負担）
• ワーキングホリデービザをお持ちの方を歓迎します（就労ビザへの切り替えは要相談）
• 現地での就労資格をお持ちの方のみ（ビザのスポンサーはできません）

Add the expected timeline if you know it (申請から許可まで目安X〜Xか月), and name the visa category if you are sure of it. See visa sponsorship for Japanese chefs for the options by country.

7. Japanese sample template

求人タイトル

【都市名】の【寿司カウンター／和食レストラン】で寿司職人募集｜年収【金額】｜就労ビザサポートあり

お店について

【店名】は【都市名・エリア】にある【席数】席の【業態】です。1日あたり約【数】名のお客様をお迎えしています。魚は【仕入れ先】から仕入れています。厨房は【人数】名体制で、うち日本人スタッフは【人数】名です。

募集要項

• 職種：寿司職人（雇入れ直後：寿司カウンター担当／変更の範囲：当店の調理業務全般）
• 雇用形態：正社員（契約期間【1年／期間の定めなし】、更新あり：【ビザの更新および勤務成績により判断】）
• 試用期間：【3か月】（期間中の条件変更なし）
• 勤務地：【店名・住所】（変更の範囲：【なし／同一都市内の系列店】）
• 勤務時間：【11:00〜14:30、17:00〜22:30（休憩30分×2回）】、週【40】時間
• 休日：完全週休2日制（シフト制）、年間休日【数】日、有給休暇【日数】日
• 時間外労働：あり（月平均【数】時間）、法定の割増率で支給
• 給与：年収【現地通貨額】（約【円換算】万円、【日付】時点の為替で換算）、月給【額】、賞与【あり（年【回】）／なし】
• チップ・サービス料：【配分方法】（目安：月【額】、保証なし）
• 加入保険・福利厚生：【現地の医療保険】、【年金・退職積立】、【労災保険】、まかないあり、【制服・包丁手当】
• 受動喫煙防止措置：屋内禁煙
• ビザ：就労ビザのスポンサーになります。申請費用・専門家費用は当社負担。申請から許可まで目安【期間】
• 渡航・住居：往路航空券【当社負担】、到着後【4】週間の住居を無償提供、空港送迎あり
• 募集者：【法人名】

求める経験

• 寿司店での実務経験【数】年以上（うち魚の仕込み【数】年以上）
• カウンターでの接客経験（英語は日常会話レベルで可、入社後に語学研修あり）

応募方法

履歴書・職務経歴書を【連絡先】までお送りください。仕事の様子がわかる動画があれば添付してください。【数】日以内に全員にご返信します。オンライン面接（日本語）→ 実技動画の提出 → 最終面接の順で進みます。

8. Final checks

• Has a native Japanese speaker read it? Not a translation tool, a person.
• Does the 休日 line say 完全週休2日制 only if it is true every week?
• Is there an annual pay figure, a monthly figure and a clear bonus line?
• Is the visa line specific about who pays what?
• Have you removed age, gender and nationality requirements unless you have legal advice that they are lawful and necessary?
• Is the posting date shown, and will you update or remove the ad when the job is filled?

Once your ad is written, see where Japanese chefs look for jobs abroad for where to put it, or post it on WashokuJob via our page for restaurants.

General information, not legal or immigration advice. Advertising rules differ between Japan and the country of work; take local legal advice on anything you are unsure of.