Ice Cream in Japan

This is the first time since writing the blog that I've gone two weeks between posts.  Sorry, but I've been heading out early almost everyday for a Japanese class, or we've been enjoying the summer.  So, what better topic to talk about than......... ice cream.  You can find it everywhere here which is good for us since we all have a sweet-tooth!!

Ice cream vending machine at train station.

They sell soft serve (or cream), and regular scoop ice cream.  You can get it in a waffle cone, in a cup, and with toppings like back home.  I think the ice cream (like most sweets here) isn't as sweet, but its still a wonderful treat especially in this heat.  I think the younger boys even had ice cream for dinner a couple weeks ago since that's the only thing that sounded appealing! 

For the adventurous eater, there are many unusual flavors to try.  Here are some examples:  Purple Sweet Potato, Green Tea, Black Sesame Seed, Japanese Plum, Melon, Mochi, etc.  I've had the Purple Sweet Potato, which I think is pretty tasty.  Baskin Robbins has flavors with Pop Rocks, and another one called Easter Candy. 

Although we haven't tried any of these more unusual flavors, I see that they are ready available for consumers in Japan.  These would be for the people who try something at least once:

Wasabi Ice Cream

Octopus Ice Cream

Trivia:

• Japan has the most Baskin-Robbins locations outside the United States.
• Cornflakes can be added to bottom of a cone to prevent ice cream from leaking.
• Haagen Dazs was first introduced in Japan in the 1980's.