Sakura cheese () is a

soft cheese There are many different types of cheese. Cheeses can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as length of fermentation, texture, methods of production, fat content, animal milk, and country or region of origin. The method most comm ...

created and produced b
Kyodo Gakusha Shintoku Farm
in Hokkaidō, Japan. Sakura Cheese is a

camembert Camembert (, also , ) is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look and taste to brie cheese, albeit wi ...

style that is washed in local sake, Yachi Yanagi (ヤチヤナギ), dusted with locally harvested Dutch myrtle, and Sasayuki (笹雪) and wrapped in bamboo leaf picked on the producer's farm. The Japanese word ' Sakura' means "cherry blossom" in English, and is widely recognized as an important symbol of Japan and Japanese culture. Kyodo Gakusha Shintoku Farm, the Hokkaido iiary that produces Sakura Cheese, was founded by Shinichiro Miyajima, in 1974. The farm also makes Shintoko, a seasonally produced, multi-award-winning Gruyère-type cheese that is aged for over 10 months for a rich, complex flavor. The farm is currently run by Miyajima's son, Nozomu Miyajima, an award-winning cheesemaker trained in dairy science degree from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Miyajima attributes his cheesemaking success in large part to his farm's volcanic soils and naturally filtered waters. Cheese production and consumption in Japan is a modern phenomenon and was not part of the culinary tradition of Japan. In 1900 the per-capita annual consumption of cheese in Japan was only 0,9g. Japan's consumption and production however increased significantly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and is now the third's world biggest importer of cheese. Sakura Cheese is a further milestone in the country's growing appreciation of cheese by becoming the first internationally acclaimed cheese originating from Japan, winning a gold medal in the soft cheese category at the Mountain Cheese Olympics in Appenzell, Switzerland. This was a rare honor for a non-European produced cheese with awards traditionally going to Swiss, Italian, or French cheeses.

References

* * Japanese cuisine Japanese cheeses Cherry blossom {{cheese-stub

See also

References