Exploring sake from both cultural and scientific perspectives.
Niigata University proposes to the world a new academic field: Sakeology.

The Sakeology Center at Niigata University is a research and education hub dedicated to establishing and advancing Sakeology, a new academic field that integrates diverse knowledge related to sake.
Sakeology is an interdisciplinary academic field first proposed at Niigata University, dedicated to the comprehensive study of sake as a cultural, scientific, and social phenomenon. Sake is not only a precious cultural heritage cultivated within Japan’s natural environment, history, and everyday life, but also a subject deeply connected to a wide range of academic disciplines. These include life sciences and agriculture related to rice cultivation and fermentation, engineering and food science related to brewing technology and quality evaluation, as well as the humanities and social sciences such as history, culture, society, economics, and tourism. To truly understand sake, it is essential to integrate these diverse forms of knowledge through comprehensive and interdisciplinary research.
Niigata, widely known as one of Japan’s leading sake-producing regions, has developed a rich sake culture and brewing industry supported by its abundant natural environment and long history of sake production. As a comprehensive university located in this region, Niigata University has been working to systematize knowledge related to sake by bringing together insights from both the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences.
From this perspective, in 2017 Niigata Prefecture, the Niigata Sake Brewers Association, and Niigata University concluded a collaborative agreement and proposed Sakeology as a new academic field that comprehensively explores sake from cultural and scientific viewpoints. Based on this vision, Niigata University established the Sakeology Center in 2018, and in 2020 it was reorganized as a university-wide joint education and research institute.
At the Center, scientific and cultural research on sake are pursued in an integrated manner, and the outcomes are returned to education in order to cultivate the next generation of leaders in this field. Through collaboration with local communities and the sake industry, the Center also seeks to create new cultural and social value. The knowledge generated through these activities is further fed back into research, creating a continuous cycle of research, education, human resource development, and social collaboration—an essential characteristic of Sakeology.
In recent years, sake has attracted growing global attention and has gained international recognition as a symbol of Japanese culture. Rooted in the region of Niigata while open to Japan and the wider world, the Sakeology Center at Niigata University will continue to share knowledge about sake with the international community and work toward the establishment and advancement of Sakeology as a new academic discipline.

I have looked forward with great anticipation to the opening of Sakeology Center, Niigata University this year and the start of lectures there, among other efforts in establishing the academic discipline of Sakeology.

These efforts are based on a partnership agreement among industry, academia, and government, and I believe that they will serve as a role model for regional revitalization that takes advantage of the unique features of the prefecture. As worldwide interest in sake continues to increase, I believe that establishing this hub for academic research related to sake will help Niigata become known both domestically and internationally as a renowned sake brewing region, much as Bordeaux, France is known worldwide for its wine.

Niigata Prefecture is home to Niigata Prefectural Sake Research Institute, Japan’s one and only prefectural-run examination and research organization dedicated to sake — just one of the prefecture’s various efforts to promote the sake industry. We hope to see a continued expansion of these broad efforts, with Sakeology Center taking a leading role, and expect that Niigata University will become a hub of learning in this field, drawing researchers and students from all over the world.

We believe that sake is a major attraction of Niigata Prefecture, worthy of being shared with the world. Niigata Prefecture will continue to put its full strength behind expanding the local sake industry, hoping that it leads to increased recognition of the Niigata Sake brand, drawing numerous visitors from both Japan and overseas.