This is a “flexible-start course,” which begins when you click the “Register (Free)” button.
“Flexible Start Course” progresses according to each participant’s individual start date.
Please check your schedule using the course schedule (PDF) below.
(Please be sure to click here and read this before starting the course.)
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Course Content
“SHOKU-gaku” is a new concept that for the first time, integrates oral science with the existing disciplines of food science and nutrition science.
In 2020, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, in collaboration with Tohoku University Graduate School of Agricultural Science and Miyagi University School of Food Industrial Sciences, introduced the concept of “SHOKU-gaku”.
“SHOKU-gaku” is a new Japanese word that combines “Shoku” and “gaku”. “Gaku” is a Japanese word meaning “field of study or discipline”, so “SHOKU-gaku” indicates the discipline of “Shoku”.
The goal of “SHOKU-gaku” is simple yet profound. It aims to realize lifelong health and wellbeing through correct eating and right food.
In this lecture, we will introduce the basic concepts, our practices, and the future of this “SHOKU-gaku”.
※This course was produced based on the knowledge available at the time of recording (2024).
※Please note that this course covers the same content as the first session, which held in October 2025, with some modifications to the assignments.
Week1：Food and Oral Function 1
The first week covers the basics of oral morphology and function. Specifically, students will learn about mastication, swallowing, and taste as oral functions, as well as oral morphology. The relationships between taste, mastication, and brain function will also be explained.
- Introduction
- Introduction to “SHOKU-gaku” : Transdisciplinary Science of Eating, Food, and Nutrition for Health and Wellbeing
- Morphology and function of the oral cavity
- The Inseparable Relationship between MASTICATION and SWALLOWING
- Five Basic Tastes and their Receptors
- Occlusion and Masticatory Function
- Eating and brain function
Week2：Food and Oral Function 2
Week 2 covers food rheology, food texture and function, and the microbiome and its metabolic functions in the oral cavity and intestinal tract. Additionally, you will learn about the developmental and aging changes in oral function.
- Introduction
- Fundamentals on Rheology of Foods
- Food texture and Oral function
- The Microbiome and Metabolism in The Digestive Tract - The Oral Cavity -
- Gut microbial colonization and host homeostasis
- Relationship between oral functional development and food in children
- Oral functions for eating in older adults
Week3：Food and Health 1
Week 3 focuses on food and nutrition, as well as the relationship between food and various diseases. Specifically, you will learn about diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease, halitosis, and flail and taste disorders, and their relationship to food.
- Introduction
- Prevention of lifestyle-related diseases by the usage of nutraceuticals
- Dental Caries and Dental Erosion
Their relationship with food
- Relationship between systemic health and periodontal disease
- From the perspective of periodontal medicine
- Halitosis related to the oral environment
- Eating and Frailty
- Oral medical diagnosis and treatment for taste disorders
Week4：Food and Health 2
In Week 4, food and health are discussed not only from medical and dental perspectives, but also from the perspectives of data science and psychology. Specifically, you will learn about microbiome metabolites and systemic health, food allergies, the food system in Japan, food and health from a data perspective, and the culture and psychology of food.
- Introduction
- Metabolites derived from the oral microbiome and their effect on Oral/Systemic health
- Fecal microbiota transplantation to improve microbiota for curing diarrhea in calves
- Functional Foods for Oral Health in Japan
- Fermented Foods and their Health Functions
- Food Allergy : Current understanding and Future Perspective
- Cohort Data, Food and Oral Health
- The Psychology of Eating
- The Japanese food culture from Oral Health outlook
Week5：The Future of “SHOKU-gaku”
In Week 5, we explain the future of “SHOKU-gaku,” including future food materials such as insect foods and the latest food technologies such as 3D food printers, realized by Tohoku University's unique integrated wisdom, through cooperation of the life sciences and the humanities and social sciences. Let us all take this opportunity to think together about the future of “SHOKU-gaku.”
- Introduction
- The Future of “SHOKU-gaku” Created by Integrated Wisdom
- Creating New Choices through Cellular Agriculture
- Shaping the Future of Food
- Utilization of the next-generation synchrotron facility “NanoTerasu” for evaluation and development of food
- Measurement of lipid oxidation:
Antioxidant strategies for food quality and health
- Consumer Acceptance of Food Prepared Using Food Technology
- The Psychology of Food Palatability and Preferences
- Is our food safe?
- Data-driven “SHOKU-gaku” in the future
Lecturers
Ken Osaka
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry and Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University
He graduated from Tohoku University (MD, 1990) and Graduate school of International health, The University of Tokyo (MPH, PhD 1997). He was a Takemi Fellow, Department of International health and population, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston (2001-2002). He was appointed Deputy Director, Division of the Health for the elderly, The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Tokyo during 2004-2005.Professor Osaka has conducting epidemiological research and policy making activities on Social Determinants of health.
Author's Works
Nobuhiro Takahashi
Specially Appointed Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Completed his doctoral course at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry in 1988 (PhD). After working as a dental resident at Tohoku University Dental Hospital, visiting assistant professor at the University of Minnesota in the US, and assistant and associate professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, he became a professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry in March 2001.
He has served as vice dean and dean of Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, member of the Tohoku University Education and Research Council, and special advisor to the Tohoku University President. In 2017, he was awarded the Yngve Ericsson Award. His specialty is oral biochemistry. He is engaged in research into oral and systemic diseases and health based on the metabolic biochemistry of the oral microbiome.
Author's Works
Hiroyasu Kanetaka
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Completed the doctoral program at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry in 1997 (PhD).
After working as an assistant Professor at Tohoku University School of Dentistry, a visiting researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago, an associate professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, and an associate professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, he has been a professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry since November 2020.
He specializes in orthodontics and biomedical engineering. He applies the latest technology in biomedical engineering to research on oral and systemic health.
Guang Hong
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Dr. Hong recieved PhD degree in Dental Science from Hiroshima University Graduate School of Dentistry in 2003. After working as Assistant Professor at Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Assistant Professor, Lecturer and Associate Professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, he became Professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry from April 2019.
He has served as assistant dean and vice dean of Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, member of the Tohoku University Education and Research Council. In 2019, he received the Tohoku University the Presidential Prize for Educational Excellence. He specializes in biomaterials, prosthodontics, and gerodontics. He is involved in the establishment of international standards (ISO) for dental materials, improvement and development of oral and denture care materials, research on metal-free dental implant materials, and development of dental materials and educational systems through industry-academia-government collaboration.
Author's Works
*List of other lecturers
(affiliations and positions are as of the time of recording in 2024)
Kaoru Igarashi
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Takeyoshi Koseki
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Kan Saito
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Yuji Hatakeyama
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Yoshinori Hattori
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Satoru Yamada
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Minoru Wakamori
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Toru Ogawa
Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Kenji Takeuchi
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Jumpei Washio
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Taro Kusama
Senior Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Naoko Tanda
Senior Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Shizuko Sato
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Eriya Shimada
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Naru Shiraishi
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Yasue Tanaka
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University
Hitoshi Shirakawa
Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Masako Toda
Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Kiyotaka Nakagawa
Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Tomonori Nochi
Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Masahiko Harata
Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Daitaro Ishikawa
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Keita Nishiyama
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Keisuke Igarashi
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University
Nobuyuki Sakai
Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
Makoto Kanauchi
Professor, School of Food Industrial Sciences, Miyagi University
Yasuko Yuruka
Senior Assistant Professor, School of Food Industrial Sciences, Miyagi University
Hidemitsu Furukawa
Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Yamagata University
講座内容
「食学」は、「口腔科学」、「食品科学」、「栄養科学」を融合させた世界初の新しい学問です。2020年、東北大学大学院歯学研究科は、東北大学大学院農学研究科、宮城大学食産業学群と連携し、「食学」をスタートさせました。「食学」とは、「食」と「学」を組み合わせた新しい日本語です。「食学」の目的はシンプルで、正しい食事、正しい食を通じて生涯の健康と幸福を実現することです。
この講義では、「食学」について、基本的な概念や私たちが実践していること、さらに、食学の未来について紹介します。
※本講座は、収録当時（2024年）の知見に基づいて制作されています。
※本講座は、2025年10月開講の第1回と同じ内容となり、課題の一部を変更しております。
Week1：食と生体機能１
第１週では、口腔の形態や機能について、その基本を解説します。具体的には、口腔形態とともに、口腔機能として咀嚼と嚥下、味覚について学びます。また、味覚や咀嚼と脳機能との関連についても解説します。
- イントロダクション
- 食学とは：口腔科学（歯学）＋栄養学＋食品科学
- 口腔の形態と機能（唾液を含む）
- 咀嚼と嚥下
- ５基本味と受容体
- 噛み合わせと咀嚼機能
- 食と脳機能（味覚と脳機能、咀嚼による脳機能低下・予防）
Week2：食と生体機能２
第２週では、食品のレオロジーや消化管のマイクロバイオームと代謝機能、そして、口腔機能の発達や加齢と食に関して解説します。具体的には、食品のレオロジーに加え、食品テクスチャと機能について、また、口腔内と腸管内のマイクロバイオームと代謝機能について学びます。加えて、口腔機能の発達と加齢変化についても学びます。
- イントロダクション
- 食品のレオロジー
- 食品テクスチャと口腔機能
- 消化管のマイクロバイオームと代謝機能：口腔
- 消化管のマイクロバイオームと代謝機能：腸管
- 小児の口腔機能発達と食
- 高齢者の口腔機能（加齢に伴う変化）
Week3：食と健康１
第３週では、食と栄養に加え、食と様々な疾患との関連について解説します。具体的には、疾患として、う蝕、歯周病、口臭、フレイル、味覚障害などの疾患と食との関連を学びます。
- イントロダクション
- 食と栄養
- 食と齲蝕・酸蝕症
- 食と歯周病（口腔機能喪失、リスク、予防）
- 食と口臭・呼気
- 食とフレイル
- 味覚障害に対する口腔内科的診断と治療
Week4：食と健康２
第４週では、食と健康について、医学的見地だけではなく、データサイエンス、心理学の観点からも解説します。具体的には、マイクロバイオーム代謝物と全身の健康、食品アレルギー、食品制度、データから見た食と健康に加え、食の文化と心理学についても学びます。
- イントロダクション
- マイクロバイオーム代謝物と全身の健康
- 食と免疫
- 口腔保健用機能性食品
- 発酵食品と健康
- 食品アレルギー
- 食と健康観（データから見た食と健康）
- 食の心理学
- 口腔から見る日本の食文化の特徴（利点・欠点）
Week5：食学の未来
第５週では、食の未来について学びます。昆虫食などの未来の食材や3Ｄフードプリンタなど最新のフードテック技術を交え、東北大学独自の文理融合による総合知により実現される、食学の未来について解説します。みなさんも、この機会に、「食学」の未来について一緒に考えてみましょう。
- イントロダクション
- 総合知が創造する食学の未来
- 未来の食材
- 未来のフードテック技術
- ナノテラスを利用した新規食品開発
- おいしさを維持する新しい酸化制御
- フードテック食品の消費者受容性
- おいしさの心理学的評価
- 食の安全
- 未来のデータ食学
