For some reason, it’s always a good time for ice cream in Tokyo.
Unusual though it may be, spotting someone enjoying an ice cream-filled monaka (sweet wafer sandwich) or cone of soft-serve in the depths of winter is not an ultra-rare occurrence. There’s logic in there somewhere: Frozen treats don’t melt as quickly when the weather is near freezing.
Perhaps that’s because Japan already had a traditional summer cooler — kakigо̄ri (shaved ice) — before ice cream dropped, or rather dripped, onto the scene. Ice cream, then, is perennial fair game.