Japanese grocery stores and ingredient suppliers in New Zealand

This page is for food lovers and professional chefs in New Zealand that are looking for Japanese cooking supplies.

Japanese Cooking Supplies

Rice

General supermarkets carry Japanese rice grown in California or Australia, but Japanese rice grown in Japan is usually only available in stores specializing in Japanese food.

Soy sauce

Soy sauce is readily available in supermarkets as well as Asian grocery stores.

Miso

Miso is also available in supermarkets and Asian grocery stores.

Seafood

Like Australia, New Zealand is surrounded by ocean and seafood is plentiful. In local Japanese restaurants you will often see salmon, tuna, shrimp, squid, and octopus.

Alcohol

You can get sake and shochu from Japanese food suppliers or at Japanese grocery stores. Actually, New Zealand has its own sake brewery called “Zenkuro”.

The name “Zenkuro” (all black) comes from the Japanese kanji reading of New Zealand’s national rugby team, the “All Blacks”. They make their sake from rice imported from Japan and the ultra-soft water of Lake Wakatipu, in Queenstown.

List of Japanese grocery stores and ingredient suppliers

Below is a list of Japanese food importers who wholesale to supermarkets and restaurants, as well as supermarkets that sell Japanese food to the general public.

This list consists of vendors frequently used by Japanese in your country. (Some shops carry not only Japanese cooking supplies but also kitchen ware)

Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington
http://www.jfcaustralia.com.au/

Auckland and Christchurch
https://japanmart.co.nz/

435 Khyber Pass Road, Newmarket, Auckland
https://tokyoliquor.co.nz/onlineshop/index.php/

227 Blenheim Rd, Riccarton, Christchurch
https://www.facebook.com/KoscoBlenheimRd/

21 Foremans Road, Islington Christchurch
https://www.facebook.com/bigtasiansupermarket

386 Riccarton Road, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch

125 Victoria Street, Te Aro/ 31Tennyson Street, Te Aro Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/haeremaiandwellmart

3 Mahora Street, Kilbirnie Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/AsianFoodSpecialist/

Number of Local Japanese People

20,822 Japanese live in New Zealand, as of October 2018.

Number of Local Japanese Restaurants

As of 2019, there are about 880 Japanese restaurants in New Zealand.

For New Zealand People Wanting to Study Japanese Cuisine in Japan

Do you want to study Japanese cuisine in Japan one day? Chefs Wonderland, an agency for helping foreign visitors study cooking in Japan, can make all your cooking school dreams come true.

There are two main ways to study Japanese cuisine in Japan.

One way is to enroll in a culinary school.

The other is to find work at a Japanese restaurant in Japan, although this is not very easy to do.

How Many New Zealand People are Living in Japan?

3,486 New Zealander live in Japan and 73,208 visited to Japan in 2018.

Study Japanese Cuisine at a Culinary School

If you want to attend a Culinary Technical College for Japanese people, you need to be able to speak fluent Japanese, but even if you can’t speak Japanese, you can study Japanese cuisine at one of the following schools that offer English courses lasting anywhere from one day to three months.

There are classes for beginners, short-term intensive courses to get a certificate, and private classes for professional chefs.

Culinary Schools in Japan

Study Japanese Cuisine While Working

Under the current immigration laws, foreigners have very limited opportunities to work in restaurants in Japan, you would need a working holiday visa, a spouse visas, or a type of special activity visa issued only to a few people. If you want more information on studying Japanese cuisine while working in Japan,

please see the following article.

Working Holiday in Japan

Working holiday visas are issued to New Zealanders between the ages of 18 and 30. If you can get a Working Holiday Visa, you can enjoy vacationing and working in Japan for up to one year.

If you are thinking about going on a Working Holiday to Japan, please see the following article.
Japan Working Holiday Guide – 15,000 youth get working holiday visa every year

Would you like to know more?