
Japanese Cooking Course and Restaurant Internship in Japan
2 - 12 weeks
English
Monthly start date
16+
690 EUR
Skill Development Course & Internship
Japanese Cooking Course
Japanese cuisine is characterized by fresh, high-quality ingredients, seasonal and regional flavors, and visually elaborate presentation. It focuses on simple yet elegant preparations that often highlight the natural taste of each ingredient. Traditional dishes such as sushi, sashimi, tempura, and ramen emphasize a balanced interplay of taste, texture, and color. Key elements like umami, the fifth basic taste, play an important role, while fermented foods such as miso and soy sauce are staples of the diet. The cultural respect for nature and seasonal changes is deeply rooted in Japan's culinary traditions.
The Japanese cooking course includes eight lessons, which you can complete within 2-4 weeks. You can specify your availability, and a schedule will be created with detailed dates and lesson content.
Each lesson lasts approximately 1.5 hours, followed by one hour for dining. The instruction language is English and can be either group or individual sessions. Classes take place in the studio kitchen of the cooking instructor in Omiya, a passionate home cook who has been conducting cooking classes for many years. All ingredients are included, and the dishes you prepare can be enjoyed after the lesson.
Contents of the cooking lessons
● Lesson 1: Japanese food basics
The 5 taste concepts (sweetness, saltiness, acidity, bitterness, umami)
The 5 colours: red, green, yellow, white, black
The 5 methods: bake, simmer, fry, steam, raw
Chopstick manners and basics of serving meals
Cooking: Grilled fish, steamed egg custard, Japanese mustard spinach with sesame sauce, pork miso soup, white rice
● Lesson 2: Easy Japanese dining table setup with rice pot cooking
Oyakodon, mizuna and jako salad, instant radish pickles, tofu and shiitake mushroom miso soup
● Lesson 3: Colorful bento with five colors
Fried chicken, boiled hijiki, tamagoyaki, boiled spinach, kinpira burdock root, white rice bento
● Lesson 4: The concept of "Sashisuseso"
Nabe-daki rice, mackerel simmered in miso, meat and potatoes, vinegared seaweed, ginger and cucumber, miso soup
● Lesson 5: The role of seasonings in Japanese food and how to make dashi
Mixed rice or sekihan, boiled in Chikuzen, horse mackerel pickled in Nanban, clear soup
● Lesson 6: Japanese Sweets 1
Mizuyokan
● Lesson 7: Japanese Sweets 2
Kingyoku and Nerikiri
● Lesson 8: Other Japanese dishes
Cutlet curry rice and Japanese potato salad
or
Dumplings and Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen)
Note: The exact contents and their order may be subject to slight changes.
Internship in a Japanese Restaurant
If you want to delve deeper into Japanese cuisine, we recommend an 8-week restaurant internship following the cooking course.
Your 12-week stay in Japan can look like this:
- Cooking Course: You spend the first 4 weeks in Tokyo, participating in the above-described cooking course (8 lessons).
- Japanese Language Classes: Simultaneously, you can attend a conversational Japanese course to acquire basic communication skills for working in a Japanese restaurant kitchen. This general language course takes place five days a week, with 4 x 45-minute lessons per day.
- Culinary Japanese Language Module: Additionally, you can receive a 45-minute lesson once a week in "Culinary Japanese," learning vocabulary and phrases specific to Japanese cuisine and restaurant work.
- Accommodation: During your 4 weeks in Tokyo, you can stay in our affordable share house in Tokyo, choosing from dormitory, double, or single rooms, or with a host family.
- Restaurant Internship: For weeks 5-12, you will do a restaurant internship, gaining hands-on experience in a professional setting.
The internship is unpaid, with work hours averaging 30-40 per week. The internships are organized in small towns on Sado Island, in Ise Shima, and in Iwate. Costs include internship placement and accommodation without meals. Accommodations vary by location but are usually single rooms in shared apartments with communal kitchen and sanitary facilities. Travel costs from Tokyo to your internship location and back are not included.
Available restaurants include:
- Sushi Restaurant
- Ramen Restaurant
- Japanese Izakaya
- Japanese Hotel Restaurant
- Yakitori Restaurant
- Japanese-French Fusion Cuisine
Program details
FAQs
Rates
Who can join
Program start
Getting there
Visa
Accommodation Options
Extras
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Book or Send an Inquiry
What is included?
- Ingredients and utensils for the cooking class
- All teaching materials for the language course, if booked
- Accompaniment to your internship on your first day, if an internship is booked
- Access to the Knowledge Base Japan – a mobile-friendly online reference system with practical information about life in Japan
- Online preparation session
- Multilingual contact persons on-site (English and Japanese) for any assistance
- Participation in World Unite! Language Exchange Events, Cultural Events, and Social Meetup Events in Tokyo at no extra cost!
- CO2 compensation of your long-haul flights: Costs for 10 seedlings of indigenous trees that we plant on the slopes of Kilimanjaro
Not included?
- Airport pick-up (can be booked as an extra)
- Share house accommodation in Tokyo (can be booked as an extra)
- Japanese language classes (can be booked as an extra)
- Culinary Japanese language module (can be booked as an extra)
- Organization of a restaurant internship with accommodation (if not added as an extra)
- Travel costs within Japan (Tokyo to internship location and return)
- Local transportation (between accommodation and cooking school/restaurant)
- Return transfer to the airport upon departure
- Meals (except food cooked during the course, or if included in your accommodation package)
- Flights to/from Japan (self-booked, assistance available)
- Official visa fees (if applicable)
- Insurance (travel health, liability, trip cancellation; self-arranged, assistance available)
- Personal expenses
- Vaccinations
INSIGHT
this program
Get a good understanding of Japanese cuisine and learn to cook the dishes yourself
Affordable language lessons and a special "Culinary Japanese" language module can be added!
Get to know Tokyo and Japan in your leisure time
Get insight into Japanese culture through the classes
Bring Japanese cuisine to your home and cook authentic Japanese food
Questions?
your consultant for this program is
Zoe Steinmeyer
(she/her)
- PHONE numBerView our international phone numbers
- Email
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