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Food manufacturing workers

How to become a Fish Paste Product Maker

Also called: Kamaboko (fish cake) maker, Fish sausage maker, Satsuma-age (fried fish cake) maker, Chikuwa maker, Hanpen (fish cake) maker

Makes fish paste products such as kamaboko (fish cake) and chikuwa (tube-shaped fish cake).

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school 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. Many new graduates hired come from fisheries, industrial or general courses at high school, food processing or fisheries departments at university, cooking or nutrition courses at tanki daigaku (junior college), or senmon gakko (vocational college). New graduates usually find jobs through their school, and people changing careers mostly through Hello Work (public employment service) and job advertisements. Training after hiring covers general and specialist knowledge and on-site training in the whole production process. Some employers place people in fish paste production, or another department suited to their ability, after they have worked in sales or similar roles. You need basic knowledge of the fish used, such as species and fishing methods, as well as knowledge of production machinery and food hygiene. A related qualification is the fish paste product making exam in the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Fish Paste Product Maker?

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. Many new graduates hired come from fisheries, industrial or general courses at high school, food processing or fisheries departments at university, cooking or nutrition courses at tanki daigaku (junior college), or senmon gakko (vocational college). New graduates usually find jobs through their school, and people changing careers mostly through Hello Work (public employment service) and job advertisements. Training after hiring covers general and specialist knowledge and on-site training in the whole production process. Some employers place people in fish paste production, or another department suited to their ability, after they have worked in sales or similar roles. You need basic knowledge of the fish used, such as species and fishing methods, as well as knowledge of production machinery and food hygiene. A related qualification is the fish paste product making exam in the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

How much does a Fish Paste Product Maker earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥3,967,400 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Food, beverage and tobacco production workers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Fish Paste Product Maker?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 13% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: National trade skills test (技能検定).

Will AI change the work of a Fish Paste Product Maker?

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