Learning, Not Copying: Cheese with a Taste of Japan

The original home of cheese

After passing through a forest where white Birch trees contrast with the green underfoot, you come to the cafeteria of Kyodo Gakusha Shintoku Farm, deliberately built to harmonize with the scenery. The farm, which uses biodynamic farming without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, produces cheese that is highly valued in Europe, arguably the original home of cheese. Nozomi Miyajima, who changed into some clean white workwear and guided us to a special cheese atelier. He has mentored the current generation of cheese producers in the area, and is said to be a symbol of Hokkaido's dairy industry. All this can be tracked back to the decision he made when he was a young man flying back from the United States - that he would not imitate the American style of dairy farming.

"The scale of American production was vast enough to overwhelm the whole of the Japanese food industry. The US was all about large-scale agriculture. I studied physics and plant ecology in Japan, and studied large-scale dairy at the University of Wisconsin, and I was blown away by the mass production of US agriculture, which would not even be possible in Japan. Having seen that, I wanted a place which was small, but had good energy circulation, and so I opened Shintoku farm in 1978.

First of all, it was all about trial and error - Miyajima even borrowed a milking machine from neighbours. In 1987, he purchased Brown Swiss cows, suitable for cheese manufacture, and began making long-aged hard cheeses that were rare in Japan at that time. At this time, he received a piece of wisdom that would determine his future direction: “don't transport milk”.

“Mr. Jean Hubert, then-President of the French AOC Cheese Association told me not to. Instead of buying and transporting milk from other companies, it made sense to just ensure the quality of the cows on my own ranch. Also, the longer the time passes, the more bacteria grows. If the milk is transported, this can hamper the development of the bacteria. That’s why the milking is done right next to the cheese atelier here. I designed the whole atelier on a slope, which means the milk naturally flows downwards under gravity, without any tools or power. This is not unusual in Europe, where organic farming is thriving. In Italy, I saw only two brothers make cheese with 18 tons of milk every day! It’s something you can do with this system using the power of the nature”

We are all carbon-based organisms

Miyajima suddenly asked "what will happen if we are burned?", as we chatted in the clean, beautiful atelier building. I answered "...... going to turn into ash?". He gave a satisfied smile, as though his student had answered a difficult question.

"In other words, we are all carbon-based organisms, which turn into ash when burned. It’s the same with trees and cows. The microorganisms which make cheese are the same. Because I studied physics, I realized that we have to make a living space which regulates itself. All the buildings here are made of wood, and charcoal, which modifies humidity and temperature, is used in the floor and elsewhere in the room. The amount of all charcoal used here is a total of about 2 tons.

Usage of charcoal has long history and it was used in Shousoin, the oldest existing wooden building in the world, built in 756. I found the custom in France too, but they said “my family have been using it for a long time but I don’t know why” (laughs). Since this naturally limits the proliferation of gems, cleaning the tools and the atelier can be done only with water. There is no need to rely on chemicals or detergents. Of course, natural water is unstable so we use filters, but everything is done organically, except for the milking process.

“A space with such excellent airflow is good for the cattle too”, Miyajima continues. “The barn has the same design as the cheese atelier. Everyone works well, in a stress-free environment. Some cows can live for more than 10 years, so there's no need to use them up and then throw them out after 4 or 5 years. I would like them to stay healthy as long as possible and produce good milk. Our cheese is made only with cow milk, you know. Apart from milking twice a day, our cows can relax in 37 hectares of farmland”.

The same goes for humans. Miyajima's father started the first community of Kyodo Gakusha in Nagano Prefecture, where many people with physical disabilities and people who are not well integrated into society gather. There are currently about 70 members in the community in Tokachi, including those who are awaiting trial. They are encouraged to have a philosophy of keeping themselves busy, and learning self-dependency. However, Miyajima refused to designate the organization as a welfare corporation which he would be entitled to receive subsidies from the state, simply stating “I didn't choose that path”.

"Welfare corporations basically categorize people according to their disability. So if you have a blind person, you would need to build facilities only dedicated to blind people. But if you are blind, you can just work together with someone else who can see, but who cannot use their arms, for example. If you feel uncomfortable in society and can't communicate well with others, here you can get used to something you can do by yourself, at your own pace. It’s simple. Also, people feel lazy if they can receive money from the state without doing anything (laughs). Again, we are all carbon-based life forms, so regardless of whether you have a handicap, or whether you are a person, a cow or a microorganism, we should all have the energy to survive. We just need to mix our strengths. We are all one.”

Miyajima acknowledges the value of each person as he or she is, not through a particular sense of charity, or by comparison to others. His idea is embodied by his way of calling those who gathered to his community as "messengers, who show me what problems society has not yet solved".

"Sure, they can be a little delicate. But cows are skittish animals too, and microorganisms are unstable as they change their movements just by the weather. That’s why this farm needs a space that feels as safe as a mother's arms. I want everybody to feel comfortable.”

Originality is the door to a wider world

Currently, Kyodo Gakusha Shintoku Farm has a variety of cheeses, from hard cheeses like raclettes to fresher, softer types. They have a gentle smell and a smooth mouthfeel which contains a lot of moisture. Among them, the best known is “Sakura (cherry blossom)” with the leave of the cherry tree on top. This white mould soft cheese won the gold medal at the Mountain Cheese Olympics held in Switzerland in 2004, and spread the name of Shintoku farm to the wider world.

“The first reason why this cheese was awarded the prize was that it was made in nature, and the second was the touch of Japanese-ness it had. Europe, which was seabed in the ancient past, and Japan, which is covered in volcanic ash, have different soils, of course. Europe tends to have hard water, and Japan has soft water, which the cows can drink as it is. The differences between these environments affect both the grass and the water the cows consume, so it is natural that Japanese cheese would seem fairly unusual.

Also, Japan has more types of microorganisms compared to the rest of the world, so we can create more varieties of cheese. It was a great encouragement for me to see a uniquely Japanese taste, not a copy of the European taste, acknowledged by Europe, the traditional land of cheese making"

“I’m still about half way to my ideal cheese. I need to understand more about microorganisms,” smiles Miyajima. It feels natural that his fair and laidback attitude attracts so many people from the world.

The name of the cafe in Kyodo Gakusha is called “Mintal”. In the Ainu language, it means “square” or “place where people come and go”. Nature, animals, microorganisms, and humans… all are gathered at this farm to make cheese. With expertise such as Miyajima's, this lush "square" of Hokkaido makes cheese that only it can make.