About culinary schools in Japan

Oct. 7th 2020 Updated

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Private Schools
3 Authorized technical college for culinary arts

Introduction

There are two types of culinary schools in Japan!

In Japan, there are two types of culinary school: private culinary schools and authorized culinary training colleges (Chourishi Senmon Gakko).

Some private schools accept students who cannot speak Japanese, but professional training colleges require Japanese proficiency in reading, listening, writing and speaking.

If you cannot speak Japanese and want to study for a short term, we recommend private schools.

If you are fluent in Japanese and want to study for more than a year, we recommend authorized culinary training colleges (Chorishi Senmon Gakko / 調理師専門学校).

Chorishi Senmon Gakko and private school

Please click the button below to see more

Private Schools Chourishi Senmon Gakko

Private Schools

What you can learn?

You can learn how to make sushi, Japanese cuisine, kaiseki cuisine (traditional multi-course meal), tempura, yakitori (grilled skewered chicken), soba (buckwheat noodle), ramen, udon (thick wheat noodle), Japanese confectionaries and more.

Course Term

Many schools admit students all year round for a variety of classes, ranging from a one-day private lesson to a 3-month course.

Tuition

Tuition ranges from 40,000JPY (363USD) to 1,000,000JPY (9,090USD), depending on the course term (one day to 3 months).

Students

A wide variety of students, in their teens through sixties, come to Japan from　Europe, Asia, North and South Americas, Oceania and Africa. These students include chefs of sushi or Western cuisine, yacht chefs, private chefs, restaurant owners, non-experienced students or business people seeking a career change, and those who cook as a hobby.

Although the exact number is not published, it is said about 1,000 to 2,000 people visited Japan in 2018 to enroll in private culinary schools.

Language

Private schools on our website do not require Japanese fluency. Instructors can speak English or an interpreter is available, so you do not need to worry about the language barrier. Some schools can also offer a Chinese interpreter.

Admission and Eligibility

You can apply from our website, submit required documents and go through a brief phone/video chat interview with our assistance.

Some schools have a professional course that requires working experience as a chef.

You can apply through our website!

Visa

Most private schools offer 3-month or shorter courses, so you do not need a visa, if you have a passport issued by countries which have visa exemption arrangements with Japan. When you need to apply for a visa, you will need a short-term stay visa, such as a tourist visa. To check if you need a visa to enter Japan, go to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan or contact the Japanese Embassy in your country.

Accommodations

Most private schools do not have dorms. You will stay in a hotel or apartment near the school. For your reference, the price for a single hotel room starts at

8,000JPY (73USD) per night and the price for a short-term lease, studio apartment starts at 100,000JPY (910USD) per month in central Tokyo. In suburban areas, you can find cheaper accommodations. You can also find a share house at a lower price.

Work Opportunities

It depends on your visa, but if you have a tourist visa or other short-term stay visa, you cannot work in Japan. It is also difficult to find restaurants that provide an unpaid apprenticeship or stage for people from abroad, mostly due to the language barrier. Yet it is also true that some students enrolled in private schools kept returning to a restaurant, showed their dedication and obtained an opportunity to work as an intern for a few days or about a month.

You can begin with going to a restaurant with your own money and see if you want to learn there after enjoying their meals and service. Then, you can ask if there is any possibility for their accepting an intern, after you build up a good relationship with the chef. If the chef agrees, make sure you express your gratitude and work not only for your own learning but also for contributing to the restaurant. Even though you may have a difficulty in language, you could learn a lot even in a day.

Certificate

Private schools generally provide a school certificate. The school certificate is different from a diploma, but the certificate from Japanese culinary school should give your future career an advantage.

Careers after graduation

As mentioned above, some work as an unpaid intern, but most students leave Japan after graduation and work with the learned skills in their home country or other countries.

Back to see the other type of culinary schools

Authorized technical college for culinary arts

調理師専門学校 (Chorishi Senmon Gakko)

What can I learn?

You can learn how to make Japanese cuisine, sushi, Chinese cuisine, Western cuisine and confectionaries.

Course Term

Most courses go over a year or two and start in April.

Tuition

It depends on each school, but the tuition usually ranges from 814,000JPY (7,400USD) to 1,724,000JPY (15,672USD). (It doubles for a 2-year course.)

Scholarships

Scholarships can be offered from the school itself as well as from JASSO (Japan Student Services Organization) and other foundations but number of scholarship is very limited.

Students

You will take courses in Japanese with Japanese high-school graduates in their late teens to early twenties, but schools are actively admitting students from abroad due to the recent birthrate decline.

The number of students from abroad at Chorishi Senmon Gakko has been increasing every year: there were 159 students in 2013, while 458 students were enrolled in 2018.

Among the 458 students, the majority come from Asian countries and have no food service experience (165 come from China, 114 from South Korea, 67 from Vietnam, and 64 from Taiwan). Most of them enroll in Chorishi Senmon Gakko after they come to Japan and study at a Japanese language school.

Language

You are required to have Japanese proficiency in reading, listening, writing and speaking.

Chorishi Senmon Gakko is only for Japanese speakers.

Admission and Eligibility

You need to have completed 12 years of formal school education overseas (outside Japan) or equivalent to high school curriculum and have Japanese proficiency (the N2-level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test administered by the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services and the Japan Foundation).

After submitting required documents, you will take a Japanese test and have an interview.

Visa

You need a student visa to enroll in a 1-year or 2-year course. Each school offers support for obtaining a student visa.

Please check this website to see how to obtain a student visa.

Accommodations

Many professional training colleges for culinary arts (Chourishi Senmon Gakko) have dorms for students from abroad.

The price starts at around 50,000JPY (454USD) per month.

Work Opportunities

With a student visa, you can work part-time for up to 28 hours a week, if you obtain permission for activities other than that permitted under your status. Most common part time jobs include servers or kitchen staff at restaurants, which pay from 800JPY (7.2USD) to 1,200JPY (10.9USD) per hour. (The wage varies depending on whether you work in Tokyo or rural areas.) These students earn about 80,000JPY (727USD) to 120,000JPY (1,090USD) per month on average.

Please check this website to know more about work visa for foreign chefs in Japan.

Certificates

You will receive a diploma after completing two years or more at professional training colleges for culinary arts (Chourishi Senmon Gakko). Also, if you complete one year or more of the curriculum determined by the school, you can obtain a cooking license, a national license approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, without taking an exam.

You can take advantage of a diploma from the college or cooking license for your future career both in Japan and abroad.

Careers after Graduation

Students from abroad who complete a Japanese cuisine major at professional training colleges for culinary arts (Chourishi Senmon Gakko) and obtain a cooking license might be able to find a full-time job with Specified Visa for Designated Activities (Cultivation of Personnel for Overseas Promotion of Japanese Cuisine) for one year through five years at domestic Japanese restaurants.

Please check this website to know more about work visa for foreign chefs in Japan.

If you want to know more about professional training colleges for culinary arts (Chourishi Senmon Gakko), please see this article.