A 40-year-old Italian who has lived in Japan for nearly a decade discovered a new career this summer at a cheese company in Hokkaido.

Gianluca Sarais, from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, currently works as a sales representative for Rakukeisya cheese products in the town of Shiranuka, near Kushiro in east Hokkaido.

"Rakukeisya's cheese tasted like the cheese I used to eat in Italy with a rich milk flavor," Sarais said recalling the first time he tried it.