NOVELTY - A yeast, preferably Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, is new. The yeast comprises 26S ribosomal DNA (rDNA)-D1/D2 which comprises a 590 base pair sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) fully defined in the specification, or base pair sequence which is capable of exhibiting at least 99% or more sequence homology to base pair sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1.    USE - The yeast, preferably S.japonicus SS4-5 strain (NITE P-1197) is useful for producing ethanol from biomass feedstock (all claimed) e.g. sugarcane. The ethanol is used as gasoline fuel for motor vehicle.    ADVANTAGE - The yeast has excellent fermentation property and thermal stability, and enables to mass produce ethanol cost-effectively.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - A yeast, preferably Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, is new. The yeast has mycological properties chosen from (a) a property which can carry out ethanol fermentation optimal at 37-44 degrees C, (b) property which can carry out ethanol fermentation optimal at pH of 3-7, (c) property aggregated at the time of ethanol fermentation, (d) property which can assimilate glucose, sucrose, maltose, or raffinose, (e) property which cannot assimilate galactose, L-sorbose, D-glucosamine, D-ribose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-arabinose, L-rhamnose, trehalose, alpha -methyl-D-glucoside, cellobiose, salicin, melibiose, lactose, melezitose, soluble-starch, glycerol, erythritol, ribitol, D-gluconic acid, ethanol, nitric acid, or L-lysine, (f) property to have the ethanol fermentability and non-fermentability, (g) property which makes glucose, sucrose, or maltose a substrate and can carry out ethanol fermentation, (h) property which makes galactose or lactose a substrate and cannot carry out ethanol fermentation, (i) property in which the colony formed after culturing for 3 days at 25 degrees C in YM flat plate culture medium shows the form as (i) property in which peripheries are all the edges, peripheral portion is flat and center portion is cushion form, (ii) surface is smooth and it is an existing property moist at the appearance like a butter, and (iii) property in which the color tone of a colony is cream from white, and (j) property to have a cellular property (i) property in which a vegetative cell is cylinder shape from a sub-globular form, (ii) property propagated by splitting, and (iii) property in which the shape of the ascospore is spherical form. The yeast comprises 26S ribosomal DNA (rDNA)-D1/D2 which comprises a 590 base pair sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) fully defined in the specification, or base pair sequence which is capable of exhibiting at least 99% or more sequence homology to base pair sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for method for producing ethanol, which involves performing ethanol fermentation using the yeast.