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Food and drink service and personal assistance workers

How to become a Sommelier

Also called: Female sommelier (sommeliere)

Works as a specialist in drinks, especially wine, at hotels and restaurants, handling everything from buying wine to serving guests.

Workers in this job say high school, vocational college (senmon gakko), or university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. You can work as a sommelier without a qualification, but succeeding as one takes extensive knowledge and the talent and experience to use it, so many sommeliers who have passed the certification exam wear the certification badge on their chest at work. In Japan, the sommelier qualification is awarded by the Japan Sommelier Association (J.S.A.) to people judged to meet its definition, role and required abilities of a sommelier. To gain the qualification, you must meet the entry conditions, such as at least three years of experience in one of: food and drink service involving alcohol and other drinks; buying, managing, importing or exporting, distributing, selling or producing alcohol and drinks, or teaching about them; or consulting on alcohol and drinks. You then sit the J.S.A.'s certification exam, held once a year, and pass it. The exam includes a computer-based test, tasting, an essay test and a practical service test. People who have held the sommelier qualification for at least three years and have at least ten years of experience in total can sit the Sommelier Excellence certification exam. You need knowledge of the world's alcohol and drinks, including their history, regions, grape varieties and quality grades, as well as knowledge of world cuisines and how they pair with drinks. A fine sense of taste and smell is needed.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Sommelier?

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. You can work as a sommelier without a qualification, but succeeding as one takes extensive knowledge and the talent and experience to use it, so many sommeliers who have passed the certification exam wear the certification badge on their chest at work. In Japan, the sommelier qualification is awarded by the Japan Sommelier Association (J.S.A.) to people judged to meet its definition, role and required abilities of a sommelier. To gain the qualification, you must meet the entry conditions, such as at least three years of experience in one of: food and drink service involving alcohol and other drinks; buying, managing, importing or exporting, distributing, selling or producing alcohol and drinks, or teaching about them; or consulting on alcohol and drinks. You then sit the J.S.A.'s certification exam, held once a year, and pass it. The exam includes a computer-based test, tasting, an essay test and a practical service test. People who have held the sommelier qualification for at least three years and have at least ten years of experience in total can sit the Sommelier Excellence certification exam. You need knowledge of the world's alcohol and drinks, including their history, regions, grape varieties and quality grades, as well as knowledge of world cuisines and how they pair with drinks. A fine sense of taste and smell is needed.

How much does a Sommelier earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥3,709,800 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Food and drink servers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Sommelier?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 15% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Junior college (短期大学) programme.

Will AI change the work of a Sommelier?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026