Cheese of Japan

Kagoshima

Agetateya is the satsuma-age brand of Tatsueishi Foods, a Kagoshima maker producing phosphate-free, lightly salted fish cakes from local surimi. The company sells its fried and cheese-filled varieties, along with shochu pairing sets, through its own shops and online store in Kagoshima.

Best for Cheese-filled and seasonal satsuma-age sets

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Karuizawa

Atelier de Fromage makes natural cheese in Nagano and runs a dedicated shop in Karuizawa, producing Camembert-style and other soft cheeses from regional milk. The company sells directly through its own online store as well as its physical branches.

Best for Nagano-made natural cheese

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Chuo-ku

Morozoff began as a chocolate shop in Kobe in 1931, founded by a family of Russian confectioners who had settled in the city. It has since grown into one of Japan's best-known Western-style sweets makers, still tracing its identity back to that original Kobe shop.

Best for Chocolate and cheesecake gifts

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Nakatsu / Japan

A small confectioner in a Nakatsu residential neighbourhood, Kanei makes nama-choco busse, walnut monaka and rare-cheese mizu-manju with restrained sweetness. Seasonal cakes and tarts are served in its cafe space, and its sweets ship nationwide via an online store.

Best for Wagashi, confectionery, cakes, food

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Various locations, Osaka

Japan's 'half-baked' cheese tart — crispy pastry with a molten cheesecake centre that oozes when you bite. The Dotonbori flagship always has a queue.

Best for Cheesecake tart.

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Aso, Kumamoto

Run by Abe Bokujo, this dairy makes milk, cheese, gelato and baked sweets from its own grass-fed Aso herd. The on-site shop and cafe are known above all for the milk soft-serve.

Best for Aso milk soft-serve, cheese and milk sweets

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Kiyosato, Hokuto City

Kiyosato Milk Plant processes raw milk collected that same morning from local herds into fresh milk, drinking yogurt and cheese at its highland dairy near Moegi no Mura. The small creamery runs a direct retail shop and online store, and works with neighboring fruit growers and winemakers on collaborative products.

Best for Fresh milk, yogurt and cheese from local herds

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