10-Tier Soft-Serve Ice Cream

　You can visit the Takaoka Mikurumayama Kaikan just to use the café. The must-try here is the 10-tier soft-serve ice cream. It stands a full 30 cm tall, and if you don’t eat it quickly, your hands will end up sticky with melted ice cream. The price is a mere 300 yen. A standard-sized soft-serve costs 200 yen, but even that is about five tiers high—almost twice the size of those at other shops. A young boy eating a standard-sized soft-serve ice cream was staring at me with wide eyes, looking rather envious.

　You can also enjoy it at the ‘Manyo no Sato Takaoka’ roadside station, which is managed by the same organisation, but as it is very difficult to reach without a car, I recommend eating it at the Mikurumayama Kaikan if you are travelling by public transport.