A fun new way to learn kanji… and reward yourself for it at the same time.
It’s been just over two weeks since Kanji Ice opened a store in the historic district of Kamakura in Tokyo’s neighbouring Kanagawa Prefecture. The opening on 1 May was perfectly timed to precede Golden Week, a string of holidays on 3-6 May, which is known for being a busy travel and shopping period.
While the store’s operators had hoped it would be busy, they couldn’t predict just how sought after its wares would be, and demand turned out to be so great that many of its ice creams totally sold out, proving they were onto a winner.
▼ The word “ice” commonly means “ice cream” in Japan.
So what makes these new ice creams such a sell-out hit? Well, for starters, they look amazing, with three flavours – Crunchy Rich Chocolate, Crispy Strawberry, and Chewy Milk – moulded into kanji letters that read: “Kamakura“, “Japan” and “Ninja“.
▼ 鎌倉 (“Kamakura“)
Then there’s the fact that they’ve been developed with a special ice cream manufacturing technology that prevents the ice cream from melting, so it remains solid even after 30 minutes even at room temperature. The non-melting ice cream is a patented technology of a Japanese company called Fulllife, who is working with the store to jointly file a new patent application for the Kanji Ice Cream.
Non-melting ice cream is said to be perfect for carrying around, so you can capture memorable photos of the Kanji Ice cream at various tourist spots in the vicinity. The store is also working at expanding beyond Kamakura, with Kanji Ice cream now available at sites like Sanga Stadium in Kyoto and JR Shin-Fuji Station in Shizuoka Prefecture and the Fuji Shibazakura Festival in Yamanashi Prefecture, where you can pick up an ice cream that says “Mt. Fuji” (富士山).
The store is also able to create custom ice creams for events, like these two, which read 高輪 (“Takanawa”) and ゲートウエイテック (“Gateway Tech”), for an annual business event at Tokyo’s Takanawa Gateway City.
With so many options for customisation, the Kanji Ice Cream might soon be greeting you at all sorts of tourist sites around Japan.
▼ Strawberry polyphenols are used for the ice cream’s non-melting properties.
This is a very social media-friendly ice cream that’s sure to attract attention online, so keep an eye out for it while you travel around Japan. And if you happen to find yourself over in Gifu, there’s a non-melt katana samurai sword ice cream that draws upon the secret powers of kudzu for its remarkable strength.
Store information
Kanji Ice Cream / 漢字アイス
Address: Kanagawa-ken, Kamakura-shi, Yukinoshita 1-6-4
神奈川県鎌倉市雪ノ下1-6-4
Open 11:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Source, images: Press release
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