Lactic acid production was investigated for batch and repeated batch cultures of Enterococcus faecalis RKY1, using wood hydrolyzate and corn steep liquor. When wood hydrolyzate (equivalent to 50 g l−1 glucose) supplemented with 15–60 g l−1 corn steep liquor was used as a raw material for fermentation, up to 48.6 g l−1 of lactic acid was produced with, volumetric productivities ranging between 0.8 and 1.4 g l−1 h−1. When a medium containing wood hydrolyzate and 15 g l−1 corn steep liquor was supplemented with 1.5 g l−1 yeast extract, we observed 1.9-fold and 1.6-fold increases in lactic acid productivity and cell growth, respectively. In this case, the nitrogen source cost for producing 1 kg lactic acid can be reduced to 23% of that for fermentation from wood hydrolyzate using 15 g l−1 yeast extract as a single nitrogen source. In addition, lactic acid productivity could be maximized by conducting a cell-recycle repeated batch culture of E. faecalis RKY1. The maximum productivity for this process was determined to be 4.0 g l−1 h−1.