People who love delicious food and want to make it themselves. A person who can be creative and inventive. Patience is also necessary, as the training period is long.

The cook's job is to prepare food to be served to customers in various food service establishments other than homes, such as restaurants, cafeterias, ryotei, hotels, inns, schools, hospitals, and company cafeterias. Depending on the type of cuisine, those who prepare Western cuisine are called cooks, those who prepare Japanese cuisine are called itamae, and so on. The term "chef" is of French origin and originally referred to a leader such as a head cook or head chef, but nowadays, a Western cook with a certain level of experience is often called a chef. This job used to be dominated by men, but nowadays women chefs are making remarkable inroads into the industry.

To work as a cook, you do not actually need a special license. Even if you do not have a license, you can cook at a restaurant on a part-time basis. However, if you want to make a career out of it, you should obtain a "chef's license," which is a national license. A chef's license is called a "name-exclusive license," meaning that you cannot call yourself a "chef" without one. In addition, many hospitals, schools, large hotels, and famous restaurants require their employees to have a chef's license.

There are two major ways to obtain a "chef's license. One is to pass the chef's examination held in each prefecture, which requires at least two years of work experience in a restaurant or eating house as a qualification for the examination. The other is to study at a chef training facility designated by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare (vocational school, college of life science, high school, etc.), and upon graduation, one can obtain a "chef license" without taking an examination.

In Japan, opportunities for "eating out" to dine outside the home are increasing. It is likely that there will continue to be a need for chefs to work in the kitchens of restaurants and other establishments, but the number of cooks who choose Japanese restaurants and eateries overseas as their place of employment is increasing, and not stopping in Japan. In addition, "chushoku," or take-out food from convenience stores and supermarkets and eaten at home, has recently become common. The "chushoku" industry is also supported by chefs. Having a specialized skill in cooking will open up a variety of possibilities.

Once they gain experience in restaurants and other places and become full-fledged workers, their monthly income is more than 200,000 yen. Newcomers earn less than this. If you become an independent chef and own your own restaurant, your income will be much higher.

If you work in a restaurant, for example, you have one or two days off a week, depending on the restaurant's regular holidays. In places like hotels, which are in operation all year round, shifts are required.

They can be found anywhere in the country, but there are also many restaurants in large cities and tourist areas with large populations.

It's a chart that shows at a glance the main routes to getting a job as a cook!