Being pregnant during the brutally hot summer in Japan has only one silver lining: desserts. Lots and lots of desserts and one great excuse to try them all.

Since the summer festival season began, it’s become something of a personal mission to try the great wide variety of ice creams and ices that Japan seems to have available at every vendor and on every street corner.

It’s been phenomenal. From shaved ices that far surpass sno-cones during city festivals, to sliced frozen strawberries & cream, Japan has made finding fresh, sometimes even healthy desserts simple.

My son and I traveled to a farm about an hour north of our town and sampled some of their fresh cream cherry and vanilla combinations. (We’re not big sharers).

On a day trip to Kamakura to meet friends for a beach day, I tried some delicious green matcha tea soft-serve.

With some old-fashioned strawberry & vanilla swirl in the Izu Peninsula.

Some delicious red perilla soft serve (which I found out later is a kind of purple sweet potato) in Nara.

The BEST ice cream I’ve ever had at the top of the Shin-Kobe ropeway – Japanese sakura!

The most innovative one I’ve seen so far – soft serve vanilla with raspberry swirl… and saltines!!!

Soft serve AND shaved ice atop each other at Tokyo DisneySea… Because why not?

And the best discovery ever – fruit & shaved ice at an amazing shop within biking distance from our house. Just outside its door is a playground my son loves – which makes this the perfect summertime stop. 

We *might* be working our way down the menu list, but this kiwi ice I had the first day is still my hands-down favorite.