Imuraya's popular Yawamochi Ice series is getting a new seasonal flavor: Yawamochi Ice Houjicha Warabi. The new treat rolls out at convenience stores from Monday, August 31, and at general retailers from Monday, September 14, as a seasonally limited item.
A Japanese-style dessert ice cream built around fragrant houjicha and jiggly black sugar warabimochi
Yawamochi Ice has been on shelves since 2012, built around the concept of "Japanese-style sweets from a sweets parlor, at home" -- mochi that stays soft and chewy even frozen, layered with a range of ingredients for an indulgent treat that's easy to enjoy any time.
The new seasonal Houjicha Warabi flavor turns to houjicha, a tea that grows more popular as autumn and winter set in. It combines the tea's deep, roasted flavor with the soft texture of warabimochi. The three layers stack houjicha ice cream made with Uji houjicha and Hokkaido fresh cream, a houjicha red bean paste made with the same tea, and the series' first-ever black sugar warabimochi -- together recreating the feel of a dessert from a traditional sweets shop. It's a treat worth trying both for houjicha fans and anyone looking for a seasonal Japanese-style dessert.
Yawamochi Ice Houjicha Warabi: product highlights
1. The series' first black sugar warabimochi, with a jiggly, melt-in-the-mouth texture
Made with real warabi starch, this is the first black sugar warabimochi in the Yawamochi Ice series, finished with a jiggly, melt-in-the-mouth texture. The black sugar adds a rich, mellow flavor.
2. Houjicha ice cream with a roasted aroma and gentle milky flavor
The ice cream is made with carefully selected Uji houjicha, blending stems and leaves for a distinctly roasted aroma. Hokkaido fresh cream rounds it out with a gentle milky richness alongside the tea's fragrance.
3. A rich houjicha red bean paste that stays soft even frozen
The houjicha red bean paste on top is finished with a rich, roasted flavor, staying soft and smooth even straight from the freezer.
Yawamochi Ice Houjicha Warabi: product information
- Product name: Yawamochi Ice Houjicha Warabi
- Suggested retail price: ¥180 (excl. tax) / ¥194 (incl. tax)
- Volume: 130ml
- Storage: Frozen
- Release date: Convenience stores: Monday, August 31, 2026; general retailers: from Monday, September 14, 2026, seasonally limited, rolling out gradually
- Where to buy: Mass retailers and supermarkets, convenience stores nationwide; Imuraya Web Shop: https://www.imuraya-webshop.jp/
Developer's comment
This product started from a focus on houjicha, a tea that has long been loved in Japan. Houjicha has little astringency and a relaxing quality, and development began with the goal of expressing that flavor in an ice cream to give customers nationwide a comforting, sweet moment.
In the early stages of development, the team visited numerous Japanese-style cafes and traditional sweets shops, researching combinations with ingredients like red bean paste and shiratama dumplings. Along the way, they noticed that indulgent desserts pairing houjicha with another Japanese ingredient were surprisingly rare. So the team decided to lean into the series' biggest strength -- its layered structure -- to create an ice cream with a new level of satisfaction. While weighing different combinations, they landed on black sugar warabimochi, the series' first, as an ingredient that could add richness and a textural contrast to houjicha's clean sweetness and roasted flavor. But recreating warabimochi's distinctive jiggly, melt-in-the-mouth texture while frozen wasn't easy. Through repeated trial and error -- fighting a texture that turned too firm or lost its flavor -- the team fine-tuned the ratio of real warabi starch until they reached the texture they were after.
Layering these carefully developed components together resulted in a new treat where the roasted flavor of houjicha comes together with the soft, jiggly texture of black sugar warabimochi. The team hopes it will be enjoyed both by longtime fans of the series and by anyone who loves desserts from Japanese-style cafes.
Product development: Arisa Nishiyama
Imuraya's Yawamochi Ice series
The Yawamochi Ice series grew out of the idea of "Japanese-style sweets from a sweets parlor, at home," and took three years to develop as the team worked to create mochi that stays soft even when frozen. In March 2024, the mochi was renewed for an even softer, chewier texture and has been well received.
Yawamochi Ice Vanilla
A cup ice cream combining soft, chewy mochi, richly flavored sweet red bean paste, and vanilla ice cream made with Hokkaido fresh cream.
Yawamochi Ice Warabimochi
A cup ice cream combining fragrant Kyoto kinako (roasted soybean flour), soft and jiggly warabimochi, kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), and wasanbon-flavored ice cream.
BOX Yawamochi Ice Vanilla
A family-size cup ice cream combining soft, chewy mochi, richly flavored sweet red bean paste, and vanilla ice cream made with Hokkaido fresh cream, handy for whenever a small treat is in order.
BOX Yawamochi Ice Kuromitsu Kinako (seasonal)
A family-size cup ice cream combining soft, chewy mochi, kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), and fragrant Kyoto kinako ice cream, handy for whenever a small treat is in order.
Recommended ways to enjoy the Yawamochi Ice series
Yawamochi Ice is delicious straight from the freezer, but the flavor changes depending on how long it's left to soften.
0 minutes (straight from the freezer): Springy with a chewy texture -- a true frozen dessert.
5 minutes: The mochi softens into a chewy texture, and the red bean paste melts slightly for a smoother finish.
10 minutes: The mochi turns even softer and melts in the mouth, perfect for savoring the full sweetness.
