BACKGROUND: Few epidemiologic studies have assessed the associations of sugary drink consumption with mortality outcomes among Asian populations. METHODS: This study included 70,486 participants in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study at the age of 45-74 years in 1995-1999. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the consumption of sugary drinks. We estimated the risk of total and cause-specific mortality associated with sugary drink consumption using Cox proportional hazards regression model. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 17.1 years, during which 11,811 deaths were documented. Sugary drink consumption was associated with higher total mortality, with multivariate HR of 1.06 (95% CI 1.00-1.13) for quintile 3, 1.07 (95% CI 1.01-1.13) for quintile 4, and 1.15 (95% CI 1.09-1.22) for quintile 5, compared with quintile 1 (P < 0.001 for trend). Additionally, positive associations with cause-specific mortality were observed, including death from circulatory system diseases (quintile 5 vs quintile 1; HR, 1.23; 95% CI 1.09-1.38) and heart disease (quintile 5 vs quintile 1; HR, 1.35; 95% CI 1.14-1.60). CONCLUSION: In this large Japanese prospective study, sugary drink consumption was associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.