How to become a Kitchen Assistant
Also called: Kitchen hand, Cook's assistant
Washes and cuts ingredients, prepares and washes dishes, and sets out and puts away cooking equipment in kitchens, following the cook's instructions.
Main tasks
- Putting on a uniform and washing and sanitising hands
- Setting out cooking equipment and dishes
- Washing and cutting ingredients
- Preparing ingredients in advance
- Seasoning dishes
- Plating dishes
- Serving food and clearing tables
- Setting up the dishwasher
- Washing dishes
- Drying dishes in the dryer and putting them away in their places
- Delivering food
- Taking payment
- Refilling and replacing table condiments
- Checking food best-before dates
- Ordering ingredients
- Cleaning around the kitchen
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 qualification is required to start. You learn basic tasks such as cutting ingredients and plating dishes as the cook instructs while doing the job. Knowledge of hygiene is essential for kitchen assistants, and you are trained using hygiene manuals and similar materials. Great care with food handling and hygiene is needed especially in summer and humid periods, so many workplaces run training repeatedly. The work is done standing, so a certain level of fitness is needed.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥3,790,800 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
- Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥242,200, and the middle half earn ¥202,900 to ¥299,700 a month.
- Pay measured for the wage survey group: Food and drink preparatory workers
- 2.47 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
- Western Cuisine Cook
- Japanese Cuisine Chef (Itamae)
- Sushi Chef
- Soba and Udon Cook
- Chinese Cuisine Cook
- Ramen Cook
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Kitchen Assistant?
No particular education or qualification is required to start. You learn basic tasks such as cutting ingredients and plating dishes as the cook instructs while doing the job. Knowledge of hygiene is essential for kitchen assistants, and you are trained using hygiene manuals and similar materials. Great care with food handling and hygiene is needed especially in summer and humid periods, so many workplaces run training repeatedly. The work is done standing, so a certain level of fitness is needed.
How much does a Kitchen Assistant 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 Kitchen Assistant?
Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 10% of workers are university graduates.
Will AI change the work of a Kitchen Assistant?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
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