Totoro Cream Puffs
CUE CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!
A cream puff is light Chou pastry that is then filled with a cream, custard or mousse. Similar to a French Profiterole.
The store is located in a cute residential area close to the Kichijoji train station. Named Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory; the little shop is adorned by original artwork, tiny Ghibli details and specialty souvenirs. They sell 5 flavours Vanilla Custard, Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry, Matcha and Caramal Banana and occasionally sell seasonal flavours. We opted for a Vanilla and Chocolate!
This store’s exclusive one-of-a-kind product is a Catbus biscuit called “Nekobus Sando”. There are only 50 of these sold each day and only available at the Kichijoji Location! We arrived late morning and these were unsurprisingly sold out.
With treats in hand; we headed down to Inokashira Park to join the Hanami festivities! We stopped into a beautiful and well-recommended café located on the quiet, neighbourhood street opposite Inokashira Park which is lined with small stores and cafés. Please check out Sidewalk Stand Inokashira while you’re there.
We found a spot in the park surrounded by Cherry Blossoms and other Hanami goers. There were families with children, couples with puppies and groups of friends and co-workers having a wonderful day eating, drinking and even jumping into little row boats and swan boats in the lake! This was honestly one of our favourite days from our last trip! (And did we mention how adorable and delicious the cream puffs were?? YUM)
Kichijoji is home to the Studio Ghibli Museum (The creators of Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Howls Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and many more) endorsed by the founder Hayao Miyazaki and his family they have decided that the humble cream puff store should open in the same town as the Studio’s only Museum.
Originally the only location you could find these delicate treats was in Setagaya, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. This store is still open but due to popularity, they’ve decided to open another store that is closer to a major train line and home to the Studio Ghibli Museum.
If you’re in Tokyo for a few days then we recommend visiting this lovely part of town!