Winter Aipaku® Premium TOKYO, an ice cream event, will be held for eight days from Tuesday, November 10 to Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at Sankaku Hiroba in the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building. It is organized by Ice Cream Lover Co., Ltd. under the supervision of the Japan Ice Mania Association.
The event is the "Premium" edition of Aipaku®, which is usually held at department stores and station-front commercial facilities. It is the top-tier version and a large-scale, paid-admission event that offers not only ice cream but also specialty food, workshops, and stage events.
November 15 (Sunday), which falls during the event, is Winter Ice Day (Fuyu Ice no Hi). The Japan Ice Mania Association established the day in 2016 out of the wish to "get more people to enjoy ice cream even in the cold season," and this year marks its 10th anniversary. A winter ice cream giveaway is planned for the day itself.
Ice Cream in Winter Is Becoming Part of Everyday Life
Savoring rich ice cream slowly in a warm room. Eating it after a bath. Enjoying it as a small reward to yourself at the end of the day. The style of "enjoying ice cream in winter," which was still somewhat unusual ten years ago, is becoming one of the pleasures of the season.
The previous event, "Winter Aipaku® Premium TOKYO 2026," was held in Shinjuku in January 2026. Despite the cold season, many ice cream fans visited, enjoying pairings of winter ice cream and sweets in the warm venue.
November 15 Is Winter Ice Day
Winter Ice Day is a commemorative day established by the Japan Ice Mania Association in 2016. November is when Rittō, the start of winter, arrives and winter ice cream fills the store shelves. The date also draws on the "15" in the composition standard of "milk solids content of 15.0% or more" for products classified as "ice cream" under Japan's Ministerial Ordinance on Milk and Milk Products, which is why November 15 was chosen.
Unlike the refreshing frozen treats of summer, the cold season has its own pleasures to savor slowly: rich, creamy ice cream with high milk fat, chocolate, and rich ice cream paired with baked sweets or Japanese confections.
The Wish From 10 Years Ago
We don't want the excitement around "winter ice cream" to end as a passing boom. We want it to take root as a uniquely Japanese culture. If more people enjoy ice cream even in the cold winter, it will not only make consumers happy but also energize the ice cream industry, leading to even more varied and delicious products. (Iceman Fukutome)
In 2017, the year after the day was established, the first Winter Ice Day event was held in Yurakucho. Twenty ice cream makers and convenience store chains that agreed with the aim took part, and about 6,000 winter ice creams in total, each company's top pick, were handed out. The effort to promote winter ice cream across manufacturer boundaries has continued since.
What Winter Aipaku® Will Offer in the 10th Anniversary Year
1. Winter Top Picks From 10 or More Leading Japanese Ice Cream Makers (Planned)
Each company is asked to recommend "the ice cream we most want customers to eat this winter," and the products will be introduced together with a message on why that product suits winter. Visitor voting is also planned. It will gather not only a ranking but also the reasons visitors wanted to eat each ice cream, making consumers' real voices visible.
2. Carefully Selected Local Ice Cream From Across Japan
Ice creams that Aipaku® has come across while traveling around the country and truly wants to introduce are selected and presented along with the local ingredients, history, and the makers' thoughts. A vote on "the local ice cream I want to try this winter" is also planned.
3. Release of the "Winter Ice White Paper 2026"
A survey of consumers across Japan will look at how often people eat ice cream in winter, how they choose between summer and winter, the flavors they want in winter, eating ice cream in heated rooms, and ice cream as a reward for oneself. The white paper examines where the "culture of enjoying ice cream in winter" stands today, using data rather than impressions alone.
Details such as participating makers, vendors, products on sale, voting methods, survey overview, and venue content will be announced once decided.
ICECREAM HOLIC Held at the Same Time
Besides ice cream you can eat, the event also hosts ICECREAM HOLIC, an event on the theme of "ice cream you can't eat."
The concept of ICECREAM HOLIC is "non-melting magic that adds color to me." Handmade artists and miscellaneous goods artists sell works with ice cream motifs. It is a special event that adds a fashion element to everyday life, beyond simply enjoying delicious ice cream.
What Makes Japanese Ice Cream Interesting
Major ice cream makers have built up research, development, and manufacturing technology over many years, and new products appear one after another to match the four seasons. Across the country, small farms, dairy makers, and confectioners also make distinctive local ice cream that draws on local milk, fruit, farm produce, and confectionery culture.
There is the quality and technology that mass production makes possible, and the local flavors and stories that only small makers can protect. The coexistence of both is what makes Japan's ice cream culture interesting.
Making Japanese Ice Cream a "Food Culture Treasure" to Be Proud of Worldwide
The organizers hope to nurture Japanese ice cream not as a mere "cold sweet" but as one of Japan's food cultures, one that holds manufacturing technology, an appreciation for the four seasons, local ingredients, makers' passion, and people's memories. They aim for a future in which people around the world think, "When I go to Japan, I want to eat Japanese ice cream."
Comment From Iceman Fukutome
In 2010, I began my activities calling myself an ice cream critic.
In 2015, I started "Aipaku®," and in 2016 I created "Winter Ice Day" out of the wish for people to enjoy ice cream in winter too.
Ten years have passed since then. Today, enjoying ice cream in winter is not as unusual as it once was.
I believe Japanese ice cream is one of Japan's treasures that Japan can be proud of worldwide. It is not only about taste. Manufacturing technology, an appreciation for the four seasons, local ingredients, and makers' passion all come together, and the food culture and stories of Japan are packed into a single small ice cream.
Ten years ago it was "ice cream in winter too." For the next ten years, it will be "making Japan's ice cream culture richer." And beyond that, "Japanese ice cream to the world."
I want to make this "Winter Aipaku®" the start of that new decade.
About Winter Aipaku® and Aipaku® Premium
Aipaku® is an ice cream event held around Japan with the aim of spreading the wonder and appeal of ice cream, under the concept of a "paradise for ice cream lovers." Through ice cream selected from across the country, it has introduced local ingredients and production methods, makers' thoughts, and the stories unique to each region. Since its first event in 2015, it has been held more than 60 times nationwide, with cumulative attendance exceeding 4.5 million visitors.
For this Winter Aipaku®, the event will share the culture of enjoying ice cream in winter through rich ice cream and pairings with sweets best enjoyed in winter, major makers' winter top picks, and local ice cream from across Japan.
Aipaku® Premium is positioned as the top-tier, paid-admission special edition of Aipaku®, which is usually held at department stores and station-front commercial facilities. The venue, Sankaku Hiroba in the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building, is a large, air-conditioned, all-weather space. It brings together ice cream from around the country as well as specialty food, workshops, stage events, and other ice cream-related content not found at regular Aipaku® events.
Venue: Sankaku Hiroba, Shinjuku Sumitomo Building (photo shows the venue at a past event)
Event Overview
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Event Name | Winter Aipaku® Premium TOKYO |
| Dates and Hours | Tuesday, November 10 – Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 11:00 AM – 7:30 PM (closing at 6:00 PM on the final day, planned) |
| Venue | Shinjuku Sumitomo Building, Sankaku Hiroba (2-6-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo) |
| Admission | Adults (elementary school students and older): ¥600 on weekdays, ¥900 on weekends and holidays (advance tickets available). Children (preschoolers): free |
| Bonus | The first 1,500 visitors each day receive an original commemorative wristband (8 colors, with a different color each day, so ice cream fans can try to collect them all) |
| Organizer | Ice Cream Lover Co., Ltd. |
| Cooperation | Japan Ice Mania Association |
- Details on ticket sales will be announced later on the official website and elsewhere.
- The products on sale are scheduled to be published on the official website and social media around the week of October 26.
- Insulated take-home bags with dry ice are sold at the venue.
- Business days, hours, and event content may change depending on the weather and social conditions. Please check the official website for the latest information.
For specific products on sale and other details, see the Aipaku® official website.
- Aipaku® official website: https://www.i-89.jp
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