Food manufacturing workers

How to become a Pickle Maker

Also called: Umeboshi (pickled plum) maker, Senmaizuke (pickled turnip) maker, Takuan (pickled daikon) maker, Vegetable pickle maker, Fukujinzuke (relish) maker, Vegetable salting worker, Pickled shallot maker

Makes vegetable pickles, doing work such as sorting, washing, cutting, pickling, desalting, weighing, sterilising, inspecting and packing.

Main tasks

Sorting raw materials
Washing the sorted vegetables, removing unwanted parts and cutting them
Salting the washed vegetables (first pickling)
Washing the salted vegetables and cutting them to set sizes
Desalting the vegetables and running a dewatering machine to squeeze out the water
Adding the vegetables to the final seasoning and mixing by machine or by hand
Operating weighing and packing machines
Operating metal detectors to check products for metal
Operating machines that heat-sterilise and cool products
Mixing rice bran with salt and adding water to make a bran bed
Packing dried daikon radish and bran in alternate layers in barrels to pickle
Moving the pickles into other barrels a set number of times to make takuan (pickled daikon)
Adjusting the salt content of pickles
Controlling product quality
Keeping the factory hygienic by washing and sterilising it
Developing new products

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. People join a pickle company or similar after leaving school. Related courses include agriculture, food and nutrition. New graduates usually find jobs through their school, and people changing careers mostly through Hello Work (public employment service) and job advertisements. You can also show your skills and knowledge by gaining the pickle production manager qualification certified by the All Japan Pickles Cooperative Federation.

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

Average annual income: ¥3,967,400 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 ¥225,900, and the middle half earn ¥191,700 to ¥281,900 a month.
Pay measured for the wage survey group: Food, beverage and tobacco production workers
1.70 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.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Pickle Maker?

How much does a Pickle 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 Pickle Maker?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 13% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Pickle Maker?

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

Sources

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
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

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