Otaki, Japan

As a trained microbiologist, Chiyo Shibata is used to focusing on the small things. Her dreams of becoming a cheesemaker, however, were far from small. From early on, she strived to develop worldclass cheeses that were not just ‘Made in Japan’, but ones that truly represented its unique terroir. According to Shibata, she began her love affair during summer holidays to France and was particularly impressed by the delicious cheese she ate at Roquefort (world renowned for its blue cheese) in the south of France. Her ‘big break’ came when she was working at a government food safety lab and came across dried fish maker Koshida Shouten’s 50-yearold brine which was rich with lactobacilli bacteria, naturally present in most nutrient rich environments like fermented drinks, yogurt and cheese.

Homed in an old renovated farmhouse in the Chiba prefecture, her cheese factory Fromage Sen is a representation of her meticulous attention to detail and holistic, at times spiritual, approach to crafting cheese. She believes in creating a localized product that start with the domestic production of microbes, to create produce unique to the island nation. This commitment has earned her multiple accolades including the Japan Cheese and World Cheese awards. “(My cheeses) features a fragrance that you have never tasted with European cheese,” Shibata said adding that she thinks there are cheeses which can only be created in the climate of Japan, noting that their compatibility with Japanese Sake is outstandingly good.

“The aroma is mainly derived from the action of yeast, which is controlled by the content and quality of minerals”, she explains. This, she adds, is why she uses ingredients like traditionally made natural salt from the Iwato Salt Studio. Fromage Sen also operates as a channel through which Shibata can achieve the things she would like to focus on once she is ready to leave cheesemaking behind. “We are working on creating and supporting an economic system that involves the region, and plays a role in connecting people and communities through cheese.” She says that she would like “to open a small school to convey to children the importance of food and gratitude for life. We donate to support the independence of the homeless through The Big Issue Fund; we process whey, which is the water content in cheese production, into dressings to sell them together with welfare establishments. I’d also like to do more collaboration with musicians”.

Artisanal cheese is becoming popular in Japan with almost 300 individual makers across the country to date, but it still remains relatively unbalanced in terms of female participation. Shibata would like the number to increase and admits that in terms of breaking stereotypes, she had “a fixed idea” about it. “You can't compete with large cheeses that require a lot of force like a male craftsman but if it's cheese that you can hold in the palm of your hand, there are plenty of possibilities for women craftsmen. The important thing is that the cheese is delicious, expresses its own character and is beautiful.”

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178 Babauchi, Otaki-cho, Isumi-gun, Chiba Prefecture, Japan 298-0231

IG: @fromage_sen www.fromage-sen.com