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We visit a Maths Cafe in Japan and discover an adorable icy polar bear dessert

Oona McGee May 5, 2017
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Mathematics and cute desserts go hand-in-hand at this unusual cafe in Japan.

Customers can enjoy some unique experiences and chill out with all sorts of animals at Japan’s themed cafes, which can be found all throughout the country.

Now there’s a unique cafe located on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu that combines mathematics with an adorable animal dessert, and it’s so popular that people have been flocking to the cafe in droves.

▼ Sandeco Cafe in Kyushu looks like an ordinary cafe from the outside, but inside it’s another story.

As soon as you walk inside, you’ll find trays filled with sheets of maths problems, arranged into levels for junior high school students, from first to third years. Each person is allowed to take up to two sheets at a time, creating a perfect distraction for maths enthusiasts as they wait for their order.

The maths problems aren’t always difficult, but they do require a bit of mental effort. An example question like this one contains the following problem: “I bought 15 writing utensils, consisting of 80-yen pencils and 100-yen ballpoint pens. The total amount came to 1,340 yen. How many pencils and how many ballpoint pens did I buy?”

Customers can check their answers on the laminated answer booklets, and if they have the correct answer, they’ll be rewarded with a free sticker present from staff.

While the chance to puzzle over maths problems makes this cafe particularly popular with solo diners, some customers, like us, were here for the cafe’s amazing dessert.

▼ That’s right – it’s a kakigori shaved ice dessert styled in the shape of a polar bear!

Made entirely from shaved ice and decorated with fruit pieces, the dessert can be ordered in a condensed milk sauce or chai tea flavour.

We opted for the flavour of condensed milk, which gave the shaved ice a delightfully sweet and creamy taste.

The dessert also comes with a pitcher of iced coffee, which adds more flavour, and colour, to the sweet.

▼ Suddenly our white polar bear had turned into a brown bear!

As we got further into the dessert, our hearts broke a little with each spoonful as our adorable little friend slowly disappeared.

Goodbye, sweet bear! You were gorgeous, tasty and you won’t ever be forgotten!

We enjoyed the flavour of the polar bear shaved ice dessert until the very end, slurping up all the sweet coffee and condensed milk flavours with a straw.

People in Japan have totally fallen in love with this cute and unusual dessert, with many making the trip to Kyushu to meet the adorable icy bear for themselves. If you’re able to enjoy an extended stay in Japan, Kyushu is a wonderful place to visit, and if you time it right, you’ll be able to combine a trip to the cafe with a visit to Beppu’s amazing “Spamusement” onsen theme park too!

Cafe Information
SANDECO COFFEE mathematics cafe / SANDECO COFFEE 数学カフェ　
Address: Kagoshima-ken, Kagoshima-shi, Meizan-cho, 4-1
鹿児島県鹿児島市名山町4-1
Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays

[ Read in Japanese ]