An eight-month training opportunity for 15 chefs and culinary students is being offered by Le Cordon Bleu Japan and the Japanese government.

Deborah Latreuille, Le Cordon Bleu Japan sales and services manager, calls it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone with a passion for Japanese cooking and culture.

Those selected will receive round-trip travel to Japan, a month of Japanese- language training, a month of skills training with Le Cordon Bleu Japan chef-instructors, six months of training at one of 15 restaurants in Tokyo or Kyoto, housing and a 1,000-yen daily allowance.

Also included: a uniform and professional tool and knife kit. “This makes a truly exceptional opportunity,” Latreuille said.

Candidates must be fluent in English, live in a country other than Japan and have the potential to influence their work environment upon returning home. They should be interested in bringing new skills and cultural understanding to an existing restaurant, or in starting a restaurant or business related to Japanese food and ingredients, Latreuille said.

Participants will be responsible for such personal expenses as meals, ground transportation and proper kitchen footwear.

“It sounds like a really unique and practical training opportunity for any chef who really wants to get the type of hands-on training you can only dream of,” said Frank Gonzales, continuing- education program coordinator for culinary arts at Kapiolani Community College.

“Over the years, many of our culinary students have expressed a desire to train in Japan,” he said, “but getting a visa to work or stage in Japanese kitchens is pretty difficult, let alone paying for room and board.”

It might be hard for a restaurant to lose a senior cook or sous-chef for the eight-month program, but “I think that restaurants that can see a clear, practical use for Japanese skill training would be very interested,” Gonzales said.

Japanese food is well established in Hawaii, which might seem to put isle applicants at a disadvantage, as one purpose of the training is to expand awareness and availability of traditional Japanese cuisine.

But Latreuille said there is much for chefs to learn and for restaurant guests to experience even in places already comfortable with Japanese cuisine. “The chances are the same for candidates coming from any country or nationality,” she said. “We are hoping to welcome participants from 15 different places in the world.”

Officially called the Japanese Cuisine Bursary Programme (“bursary” means scholarship), it is organized by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, within a long-term project called Human Resource Development for Japanese Cuisine/Food Culture, Latreuille explained.

The program is meant to boost authenticity of Japanese food outside Japan, she said, amid concern that foundational knowledge of culinary traditions is lacking.