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Rikai Sawafuji is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Department of Environmental Changes at Kyushu University, a position he has held since December 2024. He also holds concurrent appointments in the Advanced Asian Archaeology Research Center and the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society. Sawafuji earned his Ph.D. in 2017 from the University of Tokyo, where he also completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in the Department of Biological Sciences. Prior to his current role, he served as a Visiting Researcher at the GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen from September 2021 to September 2024, and as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Special Research Fellow (CPD) from October 2020 to November 2024. Earlier positions include roles at the University of the Ryukyus from June 2017 to March 2020.
His research focuses on biological anthropology, bioarchaeology, ancient DNA analysis, ancient proteomics, and scientific studies on cultural properties. Key publications include the 2025 paper “A male Denisovan mandible from Pleistocene Taiwan” in Science, for which he is a lead author; the 2026 paper “From bones to sediments: Ancient human DNA from open-air archaeological sites” in the Journal of Archaeological Science, where he is lead and corresponding author; the 2024 review “East and Southeast Asian hominin dispersal and evolution: A review” in Quaternary Science Reviews, again as lead and corresponding author; and the 2024 paper “Tracing early pastoralism in Central Europe using sedimentary ancient DNA” in Current Biology. Additional works cover topics such as palaeoproteomic investigation of ancient dental calculus and human diet in premodern Japan. Sawafuji has served on committees including as a delegate for the Japanese Association of Physical Anthropologists from 2022 to 2024 and has delivered invited presentations on ancient DNA applications in archaeology.
Explore 2025 research highlights from UTokyo and Kyushu University featured in elite journals, covering medaka hormones, Denisovan fossils, and next-gen batteries.
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