Dr. Yasuyuki Kishi
Vice Director of the Sakeology Center and Professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, Niigata University. He holds a Ph.D. from Waseda University and specializes in sake brewery organization, global expansion of traditional industries, and the intersection of tradition and innovation.
Sake, a traditional brewed beverage deeply intertwined with Japanese food culture and history, is produced through the interaction of rice, water, and microorganisms. The unique fermentation process known as “parallel multiple fermentation,” its intrinsic link to the natural environment, and its cultural integration with rituals and seasonal events together render sake a multifaceted subject of academic inquiry beyond its role as a mere beverage.
Recognizing the complexity and richness of sake, Niigata University signed a three-party collaboration agreement in 2017 with Niigata Prefecture and the Niigata Sake Brewers Association. This led to the establishment of the Sakeology Center in 2018 as a university-wide research and education organization. Focusing exclusively on sake as a subject, the Center aims to develop a new academic field—Sakeology—by integrating diverse disciplinary perspectives, including agriculture, engineering, medicine, economics, history, law, and sociology.
The defining characteristic of Sakeology lies in its “target-specific yet interdisciplinary” framework. From the cultivation of rice, fermentation control, production techniques, and distribution to marketing strategies, consumer behavior, health implications, and cultural meaning-making, sake serves as a nexus for a wide range of academic approaches. For example, agronomic expertise is essential for rice cultivation and breeding, fermentation science and microbiology are central to production, and economics, business studies, and sociology are key to understanding distribution and consumer reception.
The Center is structured around three research units—Brewing, Social & Cultural, and Health Sciences—which facilitate collaboration across scientific and humanistic domains. On the educational front, the university offers undergraduate lecture courses (Sakeology A, B, C, and D), as well as graduate-level master’s and doctoral programs. These programs are designed to integrate research and education, and they have garnered significant interest among students.
International collaboration has also been a major focus. Niigata University signed agreements with the University of Bordeaux in 2019 and the University of California, Davis in 2020. Drawing on these institutions’ experience in Oenology (wine studies), the Center has initiated international comparative research and co-hosted summer schools, contributing to the redefinition of Sakeology within a global academic framework and supporting the international development of sake and its scholarly value.
This presentation introduces the formation of Sakeology at Niigata University, including its organizational background, research and educational structures, and international partnerships. By comparing it with other fermented beverage studies, the presentation explores how a localized cultural product like sake can generate academic and societal impact. Sakeology represents a compelling academic approach to this broader question.
