Creamy ranch soft serve that melts in your mouth (Biei Free-Range Dairy Farm, Biei Farm)
Soft serve ice cream made with farm milk. What a sweet phrase. Our journey begins in the Biei/Furano area, located in the center of Hokkaido. Fertile soil, clear water, and raw milk from dairy cows raised on high-quality pasture. There's no way the ice cream from this town won't be delicious.
Our first stop was Biei Free-Range Dairy Farm, located in a hilly area about 30 minutes by car from Asahikawa Airport. The farm, where four types of cows graze, is adjacent to a factory and cafe.
The soft serve ice cream made with fresh raw milk is fluffy, sweet, and rich, just like eating the finest fresh cream. However, it has a refreshing aftertaste. One little girl was surprised, saying, "The ice cream disappeared in my mouth!" And indeed, when you lick it, it melts instantly on your tongue and turns back into milk.
"The only ingredients are raw milk and sugar. Unlike the general method, we use a vacuum concentration method to slowly remove the moisture over time, resulting in a rich and pure soft serve ice cream," says a staff member.
Soft serve ice cream (cone) is 500 yen. The hand-baked waffle cone is also delicious. 
You can also see the Montbéliard breed of dairy cattle, which is extremely rare in Japan. If you come around 2pm, you might be able to see the procession of dairy cows returning from the pasture to the barn. 
There is a cafe and factory on the premises. Freshly squeezed raw milk is processed at the factory. You can see the manufacturing process through the glass.
Happa Gelato: A gelateria that takes its ingredients seriously
Meanwhile, at Happa Gelato near Furano Station, former pastry chef Takashi Fujikawa makes gelato using seasonal fruits and vegetables.
"The appeal of Furano is that farms are located within a 15-minute radius. Even perishable fruits can be delivered fresh, picked that morning."
For example, organically grown asparagus is made into gelato with just the right amount of fiber left intact. Not only is it juicy, but the aroma and texture change in your mouth, which is surprising. The gelato made with strawberries from local farms has a sweet and sour taste that is more like strawberry than real strawberries, and is irresistible.
It's a heartwarming sight to see junior high school students coming home from club activities happily eating the product that took so much time and effort. "Maybe I should make it a three-color platter." It's wonderful how ice cream has become a part of everyday life.
A gelato sandwich (530 yen) made by sandwiching your favorite ice cream between natural yeast brioche and toasting the surface. 
On the right is Nakafurano asparagus gelato. On the left is chocolate. Single cups are 400 yen each. 
2 minutes walk from Furano Station. 
"Our roasted pistachios are very popular," say the owners, husband and wife team Fujikawa Takashi and Fumiyo. 
The ingredients change daily, with 10 to 12 varieties always available. The milk base is made with milk and fresh cream from Hokkaido. 
A sample platter of three flavors made with Furano fruits: haskap milk (right), strawberry, and pistachio, for 420 yen.
Enjoy the gentle flavor of "Taisho Roman Ice Cream" for 100 years at Ice Cream Parlor Misono
Enjoy Taisho-era ice cream at a parlor in the port town of Otaru
"I would have been hooked on the sweet and crunchy ice cream."
About two and a half hours by car from Furano, in the Miyako-dori shopping arcade of the canal town of Otaru, there is a panel that depicts the Meiji-era diplomat Takeaki Enomoto's fantasy of "what if he were alive in Otaru today." "Shakkoi" is an Otaru dialect word meaning cold.
Ice cream soft serve 550 yen. The light green glassware was made by Otaru glass artisans, inspired by the imported glass they used when they first opened. 
They also have a wide selection of parfaits and floats, including a mocha soft serve for 700 yen.
This town once thrived as a port town, bustling with imported culture, and it was here that Ice Cream Parlor Misono was the first to manufacture and sell ice cream in Hokkaido. It was apparently handcrafted in 1919 based on a recipe passed down from a crew member on a foreign ship. Japan's first industrialized ice cream business began in Fukagawa, Tokyo in 1920, so this would make it even earlier.
The two types of ice cream, which have remained unchanged for 100 years, have a refreshing taste made with Hokkaido milk, iodized eggs, acacia honey, and citrus fruits. "When I listened to the stories of local grandmothers who knew them back then, they said that on good days, they would often say, 'I'm going to Misono for some ice cream.' Because it's made only with natural ingredients, you won't feel thirsty afterwards. It's as refreshing as a drink."
The fourth-generation owner, Urushidani Toshiaki, is also a pastry chef who honed his skills in France. However, he said, "I don't want to change the atmosphere of the shop or the taste. The food might become even more delicious if we incorporate new ideas, but I also want to pass on the precious memories of the people of the town."
Ice cream is 550 yen. Take-out cups are also available (330 yen). 
The interior remains the same as it was in the past, with red carpets and chairs made from tapestry fabric. 
The sign is hand-painted.
Hokkaido ice cream is also diversifying. Head to Sapporo, the hotbed of sweets.
After a leisurely trip to Biei, Furano, and Otaru, we head to Sapporo, the epicenter of ice cream. Hakko Gakuen Farm Produce Direct Sales Center is popular for its exquisite soft serve ice cream, which sells 2,500 pieces a day. Students and faculty raise cows and also grow the grass and corn they feed. Everything from milking to processing is handled in-house. The secret to its deliciousness is likely the ability to process freshly squeezed raw milk immediately.
A refreshing soft serve ice cream that recreates the flavor of freshly squeezed milk (Hakko Gakuen Farmers Market)
"Our dairy cows eat grass and grains, so our milk has a milder flavor than grass-fed milk from cows that are raised on grass alone, and should be more to the taste of Japanese people," says the cow specialist. Indeed, the soft serve ice cream is rich but has no unpleasant odor, and has a clean taste that melts easily.
A student from the dairy department takes care of the calves. Maintaining a comfortable environment in the cowshed also contributes to the quality of the raw milk. 
A direct sales store converted from a cowshed and a brick silo. 
Tsukisappu ice cream is 330 yen. It is made on campus and filled by hand.
Gelateria Cremerice: A local favorite and highly skilled gelato shop
Gelateria Cremerice is an impressive place where you can see the passion for pursuing such a "beautiful taste"! The owner, Tokuichi Horiya, is a native of Yoichi Town in central Hokkaido, and is a gelato artisan who has traveled to gelato shops all over Italy and Japan with the sole purpose of making authentic gelato using fresh local ingredients.
After much research, they arrived at a subtle sweetness and smooth texture. When you try the apple sorbet, the texture of the apple skin and honey-like sweetness will make your cheeks melt, and the cool, gentle milk gelato feels amazing as it goes down your throat.
All the fruits are from Hokkaido. Left: Grapes and apples. Middle: Blueberries and strawberries. Two kinds (cups) on the right: Luxurious homemade rum raisins soaked in Shine Muscat grapes and kinako (roasted soybeans) made from twice-roasted soybeans from Hokkaido. Each is 500 yen. 
The owner, Tokuichi Horitani. 
Opened in 2016 in the Maruyama area of Sapporo.
Sapporo's holy land of "shime-parfait" (finishing off a meal) has evolved into a more comfortable place (parfait, coffee, sake, sato)
Well, for our final stop, we'd like to finish off our trip in the heart of Sapporo. If you want to finish off your day in style, head to Parfait, Coffee, Sake, Sato, the driving force behind the booming Shime-parfait culture. The new store, which moved in April 2024, offers authentic parfaits and drinks as a second stop after dinner, as well as parfaits for lunch or after work.
The new store is larger and has more seating. On the first floor, you'll also find Satodo Honten, which sells pistachio sweets. 
Hokkaido Kuma Monaka Ice Cream is 810 yen. You can choose from three types of ice cream.
A must-visit: A dazzling ice cream bar for adults〈Ice Cream Bar HOKKAIDO Milk Village〉
If you want to get lost in a new world, head to Susukino's Ice Cream Bar HOKKAIDO Milk Mura. Established in 1995, choose two or three drinks from the selection on display and pour a drop onto a scoop of soft serve ice cream. The flavor changes dramatically, making it a fun experience!
It's amazing to think that the "alcohol and ice cream" trend that has recently become popular in Paris and Tokyo was conceived and put into practice 29 years ago, with the idea of "introducing the deliciousness of good alcohol and milk at the same time."
Customize your soft serve ice cream served in a frozen mug by adding a little of your favorite liquor. The "B Set Chertois" includes soft serve ice cream, three types of liqueur, hot coffee, and a cookie for 2,000 yen. 
The owners, Soichi and Misako Iwamura, are elegant and good conversationalists.
Looking back on my travels, I discovered a wide variety of ice creams in the northern land. Daytime ice cream, nighttime ice cream, city ice cream, and ice cream from farms and agricultural schools. This variety is also the secret to its deliciousness, and the irresistible appeal of Hokkaido for ice cream lovers.
