Japan Sommelier Association (JSA) Certification Courses

Since its foundation in 1969, the Japan Sommelier Association (J.S.A.) has been furthering better understanding of wine and other beverages and for their promotion in Japan.

Today, the world surrounding washoku (Japanese food meeting the standards and essence of the dietary culture of Japan) and sake/shochu is changing as never before. UNESCO's recognition of washoku as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013 has sparked an international rise in popularity and the number of Japanese restaurants are increasing in all major cities across the world. Culinary tech-niques of washoku are being incorporated by chefs overseas regardless of the cuisine and their restaurants have sake/shochu in their wine lists.

For Japanese cuisine to be served to meet this increasing interest overseas and at even higher standards, we see a need for sommeliers and those in related professions to gain more knowledge and a deeper understanding of sake/shochu and to improve their sommelier skills of sake/shochu. Thus, we have launched a new certification, J.S.A. Sake Diploma International, which is a qualification for sake/shochu.

To provide an extensive source of information worldwide - specifically from the standpoint of a sommelier, we have compiled the J.S.A. Sake Diploma textbook in both Japanese and English. The new exam will be conducted in both Japanese and English. Together with this textbook, we will be introducing and spreading the information on a global scale.