Volatile components of rice bran-fermented sardine and raw sardine were studied by GLC and GC-MS analyses. Forty components (nine acids, three bases, one phenol, seven carbonyls, five alcohols, seven esters, and eight hydrocarbons) from rice bran fermented sardine and eighteen components (one acid, three bases, one alcohol, one ester and twelve hydrocarbons) from raw sardine were identified. Hydrocarbons and bases in rice bran-fermented sardine seemed to be derived from sardine itself, because these components were detected from raw sardine too. But most of the other volatile components of rice bran-fermented sardine were considered to be formed by the fermentation and change of components in sardine meat, and seemed to mask the odor specific of sardine.