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Cooks

How to become a Chinese Cuisine Cook

Also called: Cantonese cook, Sichuan cook, Shanghai cuisine cook, Beijing cuisine cook

Cooks Chinese cuisine, including styles such as Beijing, Cantonese, Shanghai and Sichuan.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school or vocational college (senmon gakko) is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start, but holding licences such as licensed cook (chorishi), specialist cook or cooking skills certification can help when opening your own restaurant and with pay. You start as an apprentice washing dishes and pans, then move on to making soup, preparation such as cutting vegetables and meat, and simple cooking such as wrapping dumplings and stir-frying, and learn plating and the secrets of flavour and technique. It is said to take quite a few years to become fully skilled. The job suits people who love cooking and eating. You lift heavy pots of soup and handle large woks, so it is physically demanding work. It takes years to learn authentic cooking, but once their skills improve some people open their own restaurant.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Chinese Cuisine Cook?

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start, but holding licences such as licensed cook (chorishi), specialist cook or cooking skills certification can help when opening your own restaurant and with pay. You start as an apprentice washing dishes and pans, then move on to making soup, preparation such as cutting vegetables and meat, and simple cooking such as wrapping dumplings and stir-frying, and learn plating and the secrets of flavour and technique. It is said to take quite a few years to become fully skilled. The job suits people who love cooking and eating. You lift heavy pots of soup and handle large woks, so it is physically demanding work. It takes years to learn authentic cooking, but once their skills improve some people open their own restaurant.

How much does a Chinese Cuisine Cook earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥3,790,800 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Food and drink preparatory workers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Chinese Cuisine Cook?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 10% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: National trade skills test (技能検定); Vocational college (専門学校) course: Cooking.

Will AI change the work of a Chinese Cuisine Cook?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026