Sakura cheese

Sakura cheese is a soft cheese created in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the first widely acclaimed Japanese cheese, as cheeses in general were a European/Mediterranean phenomenon until spread to the rest of the world during the days of European imperialism.

This cheese is a creamy white, and is flavoured with mountain cherry leaves. Sakura means "cherry blossom" in Japanese.

It has the rare distinction of winning a "gold medal" at the Mountain Cheese Olympics in Appenzell, Switzerland, which normally favors Swiss, Italian, or French cheeses almost exclusively for awards. The medal was in the "soft cheese" category.