Shaved Ice, Iced Coffee, and Beer in Japan

Shaved Ice is a popular snack, usually only available in the winter. It is popular especially as a snack on the pool side or at the beach. You can choose from a range of syrups including melon, strawberry, and blue hawaii. My personal favorite is melon. Some Shaved ice even has ice cream on it. A very Japanese shaved ice would be one with green tea ice cream, rennyu (condensed milk), anko, and shiratama mochi. To die for!

Iced coffee is available all year round but is especially popular in the summer as a drink to cool you down. Due to its popularity, each of the convenient stores have recently started brewing their own specialty iced coffees which are affordable and tasty. Comparing the different coffees at convenient stores is fun. Pick up an iced coffee at your nearest convenient store if you have a chance!

Beer is also available all year round. However, beer sells the most during the summer in Japan. Direct correlations have been drawn between a summer's average temperature and beer sales. The hotter it gets, the more beer is sold. Beer is a favorite among the Japanese as a drink to cool down and refresh in the summer. Recently they have started selling "frozen beer". Beer that is cooled to an extent that it is almost frozen. Definitely try on your visit if you are into beer!