Type of Japanese ice cream
Shinkansen too hard ice cream () is the commonplace name for a type of ice cream sold mainly on Japanese shinkansen trains. The term first gained popularity on the internet, being used as a nickname on Twitter since about 2013. Since 2021, it has been adopted as the official sales name.
Overview.
The ice cream is produced by Sujahta, a Japanese dairy manufacturer. Due to storage methods and quality, this type of ice cream sold on trains is colder and harder than most. This is done so that passengers can enjoy the ice cream slowly on long-distance trips. Nonetheless, it still became known for the fact that it usually can't be eaten when it is first received.
The product's official name is "Sujahta Super Premium Ice Cream," although JR Tokai Passengers commercialized it with the name "Shinkansen too hard ice cream" on its set sales packaging as of 2021.
Hardness and how to deal.
There is no refrigeration equipment in the train car where the ice cream is kept, so dry ice is used as a refrigerant in in-car sales to maintain the quality of the ice cream. In addition, the low air content and high milk fat content, designed to be luxurious, make this ice cream incredibly cold and solid. A plastic spoon is included, but that is too hard to stick in the ice cream in its immediate state of purchase. Sometimes the lid cannot be removed.
The manufacturer, Sujahta, explains that one needs to wait 10 minutes before eating it. If purchased at train station kiosks where commercial freezers are available, they can be purchased in an easy-to-eat condition.
Consumers have experimented with various measures and posting them on social networking sites. One method that has been devised is "sticking a stick into an ice cream and pulling it straight out of the cup to eat it like an ice cream stick". Some people have tried pouring hot coffee over it to make a sort of ad hoc affogato, but according to reports, this did not work as the coffee froze on top instead of melting the ice cream.
Dedicated spoon.
The sale of metal spoons suitable for this ice cream had long been considered, but at the time, pre-washed metal spoons were not available and were not suitable for in-car sales, where they are supposed to be used immediately on the spot. However, in 2020, spoons pre-cleaned with pure water were found and commercialized for the Shinkansen.
In 2014, the "Shinkansen N700S Ice Cream Spoon", made of aluminum with high thermal conductivity, was launched.
When it was first released, it created quite a stir and sold out in just three days. Subsequently, variations were made that were not originally planned. Several new products with modified patterns are being developed.
History.
There was Shinkansen ice cream in the 1970s, and even then it was expensive and its ice cream was hard. In 1991, Sujahta began producing ice cream for sale on Shinkansen trains. The percentage of milk fat was increased in order to create a luxurious taste, so the product became hard.
Around 2000, a piece of vanilla ice cream cost 260 yen (around $1.75 USD in 2000), which was expensive for ice cream.
In February 2021, due to Covid-19, in-car sales on Shinkansen trains were suspended. However, due to many requests to buy them, it was announced that they will be sold online from March while in-train sales are suspended. It was so well received that it sold out immediately after its sale.
In July 2022, this ice cream began to be sold in vending machines at Tokyo Station.
As of December 2022, the product is available on the Tokaido Shinkansen, San'yō Shinkansen, Tōhoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen, Akita Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen, and limited express trains "Azusa" and "Hitachi", as well as at some station kiosks and the SCMaglev and Railway Park.
As of 2023, Shinkansen trains traveling between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka carry two ice cream carts of 22 pieces each, for a total of 44 pieces per train.
In August 2023, it was announced that onboard sales on Tokaido Shinkansen trains will be discontinued on October 31 due to a shortage of labor and declining demand.
Internet slang.
The name "Shinkansen too hard ice cream" () was not originally an official name, but was first used on Twitter around 2013. It became popular to post a picture of the attached spoon stuck into the ice cream. The origin is speculated to be the "Marunouchi too high Building", a structure that appears in the novel Ninja Slayer.
Note that "スゴイカタイ (凄い硬い)" is grammatically incorrect as formal Japanese. The correct word should be "スゴクカタイ（凄く硬い）", but the misuse of "スゴイ" is used by 59% of Japanese. Both expressions can be found on Twitter.
References.
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