ISHIYA Shiroi Koibito

Quick Facts

What it is

Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人, "white lover") is Hokkaido's signature souvenir: two crisp, buttery langue de chat cookies sandwiching a slab of white chocolate, made by Sapporo confectioner ISHIYA (石屋製菓） since 1976 and sold in the famous powder-blue box decorated with snowy Mt. Rishiri. For most Japanese travellers a Hokkaido trip is not complete without a box, and it has become one of Japan's most recognised regional gifts.

The fullest way to experience it is Shiroi Koibito Park in Sapporo's Nishi Ward, a sweets theme park built around ISHIYA's working factory, renewed and reopened on 30 July 2026. A free courtyard and rose garden with a karakuri clock tower front a Tudor-style building housing the souvenir shop, cafés and bakery; behind a ticket gate, the paid area lets you watch the production line, explore chocolate exhibits and Gulliver Town, and join hands-on workshops. Beyond the park, ISHIYA runs direct shops across Hokkaido — the Sapporo Odori flagship is the only Hokkaido store carrying all three group brands (ISHIYA, ISHIYA G, ISHIYA CHOCOLATE) — plus a small Tokyo presence led by ISHIYA NIHONBASHI.

How to shop

1. Start in the free area — no ticket needed:
   • The Rose Garden, courtyard and all shopping are free area: park guidance is explicit that garden time and free-area shopping need no reservation and no ticket.
   • Shop Piccadilly (inside Tudor House, 10:00–18:00) stocks the full Shiroi Koibito range, park-exclusive items and gifts, and offers domestic delivery shipping.
   • The karakuri clock tower's "Chocolate Carnival" runs on the hour, 10:00 to 17:00 (weather/maintenance permitting) — time your garden stroll to catch it.
2. Enter the paid area with an admission ticket:
   • Buy at the Ticket Center (10:00–17:30) or online in advance: ¥1,200 for high-school age and above, ¥600 for ages 4 to junior-high, free for 3 and under (tax included). Last admission 16:30; the paid area closes at 17:30, ahead of the park's 18:00 close.
   • Inside: watch the Shiroi Koibito production line, see the giant "Big Box" display and the diorama of the little kobito bakers, and wander Gulliver Town (elementary-age children and under must be with an adult there).
   • Budget roughly 1.5 hours for the paid area plus shopping, about 2 hours with a workshop (park estimates).
3. Add a hands-on workshop (book ahead on busy days):
   • Set tickets bundle admission with an experience on the official booking page: a chocolate tasting course with projection mapping, the "My Shiroi Koibito" drawing course (decorate a big heart-shaped cookie with chocolate pens), and a cookie decoration course. Same-day sign-up at the Ticket Center is possible when places remain.
   • At Photo Shop Memento, order the famous original tin — your own photo printed on a Shiroi Koibito can.
4. Eat at the cafés — counter order, pay first:
   • Order verbally or by touch panel at each café counter and pay before you sit; cards, e-money and QR payments are listed per facility in the official FAQ (a few small stands are exceptions — see Payment below).

Services & options

1. Shiroi Koibito Soft Serve （白い恋人ソフトクリーム）: Soft serve blended with the same white chocolate as the cookie — regular ¥500, jumbo ¥700, in white, black or mixed swirls (tax included, official park menu). The park's most-ordered item.
2. A box of Shiroi Koibito (White): The classic souvenir — 12 pieces ¥1,144 at ISHIYA's official price (revised April 2026); black and mixed boxes sit alongside it.
3. Shiroi Koibito Parfait (¥1,800) & "Nomu Shiroi Koibito" drink (¥850): Park café exclusives turning the cookie into a parfait and a drinkable chocolate drink — unavailable outside ISHIYA's own cafés.
4. "My Shiroi Koibito" drawing workshop: Decorate an oversized heart-shaped cookie with chocolate pens in the Dream Kitchen — book the set ticket online to be safe.
5. Your-photo original tin at Photo Shop Memento: A Shiroi Koibito tin printed with your own picture; order early in your visit so it is ready before you leave.

Payment & practical info

Prices and details checked: November 2026.

• Payment Accepted: Check the park's official FAQ by counter. Major cards are accepted except at Drink Stand Brighton, Soft Cream House Canterbury and Café Butler's Wharf. E-money and transit IC are not accepted at Brighton or Canterbury. QR payments are listed for the Ticket Center, Dream Kitchen, Chocolate Lounge Oxford, Butler's Wharf, Bakeshop Chelsea, Shop Piccadilly and Photo Shop Memento, but Butler's Wharf does not accept Alipay or WeChat Pay. Carry cash for the excluded counters.
• Hours: Park 10:00–18:00 daily, open year-round (last paid-area admission 16:30; paid area closes 17:30). Winter/New Year periods may use special hours — check the official notices page.
• Tax-free — refund method (checked 2026-11-11): ISHIYA publishes no chain-wide tax-free policy on its official sites and handling is per shop, so confirm at the register — do not assume every direct shop offers it. Where a shop does offer tax-free shopping, Japan's refund system (in force since 1 November 2026) applies: you pay the tax-included price and register the purchase with your physical passport, ¥5,000 or more before tax at one shop on one day; before checking in your baggage when leaving Japan, complete customs export confirmation at a tax-free procedure terminal within 90 days of purchase; the store or its designated refund operator then refunds the consumption tax by the method registered at purchase (cash collection at a designated airport refund terminal may be available only for eligible purchases from participating stores). Confirmation is per tax-free purchase record, and the critical point for this brand: Shiroi Koibito is food — a consumable — so tax-free purchases must NOT be eaten while you are in Japan, or that purchase record loses its refund entirely. There is no sealed-packaging rule and no ¥500,000 cap. Same-day flight? New Chitose Airport's international duty-free shops are a separate, simpler scheme.
• Access: About a 7-minute walk from Miyanosawa Station (terminus of the Sapporo Subway Tozai Line), 25 minutes by car from JR Sapporo Station; on-site parking available (the official site posts live congestion).

Good to know / Common mistakes

• Don't pay for what is free: First-timers often buy admission just to shop. The gardens, clock tower show, Shop Piccadilly and cafés are all free area — the ticket only gates the factory viewing, exhibits and workshop zone.
• Last admission is 16:30, not 18:00: The park closes at 18:00 but the paid area stops admitting at 16:30 and closes at 17:30. Arrive by mid-afternoon for the full route.
• Tax-free cookies are not trip snacks: Bought tax-free, Shiroi Koibito counts as a consumable — eating any of that purchase in Japan voids the refund for the whole purchase record. Buy a separate, non-tax-free box for the train.
• No outside food or drink: The park prohibits bringing in your own food and drink — eat at the cafés instead.
• Workshops sell out: The courses have fixed capacity; on weekends, holidays and snow-festival periods, book the set ticket online over same-day reception.

Sources

• Shiroi Koibito Park Official Website (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• Shiroi Koibito Park Ticket Center & Admission Fees (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• Shiroi Koibito Park Café Menu (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• Shiroi Koibito Park FAQ (payments, hours, photo rules) (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• Shiroi Koibito Park Shops (English) (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• ISHIYA Official Shop List (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• ISHIYA Shiroi Koibito Price Revision Notice (April 2026) (Verified: 2026-11-11)
• ISHIYA News Release: Aeon Mall Sapporo Naebo — 11th Direct Shop in Hokkaido (Verified: 2026-11-11)