John Davis is obviously a well-known figure in these parts. As he walks me through the local farmers' market in the village of Ozato, where he operates a stall every Friday purveying his homemade cheeses, several people greet him.
"When the display is set up," he tells me, "I get these little old ladies who have never eaten the real thing before coming up and sampling the ones I produce. Before long, they're back asking for wine recommendations."
When Englishman Davis first arrived in Japan in 1976, the cheese choices were limited to processed fare — which he likens in gourmet terms to instant noodles — or expensive imports. Having run a language school in Tokyo for a number of years, he eventually sold the business and moved to Sapporo, his wife's hometown, where he opened another school. Weighing his retirement options, Okinawa won out over Spain, the couple moving there in 2005.