Japan’s government plans to improve working conditions for chefs at its overseas diplomatic missions due to intensifying competition for talent as the nation’s cuisine grows in popularity worldwide.
More than 6 million yen ($41,000) will be paid annually to chefs under the new scheme slated to start in January, up from the current average of around 4 to 4.5 million yen, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Photo taken in 2024 shows a chef (L) serving Japanese food to guests during an event held at the Embassy of Japan in the Czech Republic in Prague. (Photo courtesy of the Japanese Foreign Ministry)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Many serve as live-in chefs at diplomatic establishments, but they will be allowed to opt for rented accommodation with the cost to be covered by the government, the ministry said.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said chefs at overseas missions play “significant roles” in the hosting of foreign dignitaries, and recruiting good staff has “increasingly become harder.”
Photo taken in 2019 shows a chef preparing food at the Mission of Japan to the European Union in Brussels. (Photo courtesy of the Japanese Foreign Ministry)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo
“We expect chefs, as ‘food diplomats,’ to promote Japanese food more proactively,” Iwaya told a press conference earlier this month when he announced the new system.
Every overseas outpost should have a chef, and busy locations, including the Japanese embassies in the United States and China, have two. Currently, about a dozen out of some 230 missions have a vacancy, according to the ministry.
The chefs will be contracted for two years and can be extended for one year. Currently, the length of their contracts tends to be open-ended as they are linked to the terms of their higher-ranked colleagues such as ambassadors and consuls general.
The new system is expected to enable the chefs to “draw their career paths more easily,” Iwaya said.
Other improvements include adding funds to the chefs’ salaries for them to use in bringing their spouses to countries where they work, the ministry said.
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