During the dawning age of Hokkaido’s central city, Sapporo, Hakko Gakuen was established to train excellent agricultural leaders.

The Hokkaido Agricultural Technical College Farmer’s Market located on the property of Gakko Hojin Hakko Gakuen Hokkaido Nougyou Senmon Gakko (Hakko Gakuen Agricultural Technical College), known for its experience-based education, sells many handmade and processed vegetables and livestock products.

With silos and other buildings, it gives off a ranch-like appearance. One of the signature dishes is the Hokkaido soft serve that’s only available from late April to early November (small, 160 yen; large, 270 yen, cocoa waffle, 290 yen).

The cows are raised by school staff and students and only fed non-genetically modified feeds such as grass and dent corn. The raw Hokkaido milk from these carefully tended cows produces the soft-serve ice cream, which receives major praises from people in Sapporo who adore sweets.

The texture is velvety, with the deep, rich flavor of Hokkaido milk. With zero unnecessary additives, it melts quickly but proves the natural deliciousness of the ice cream.

Also, the ingredient for the Hokkaido soft serve, the pasteurized Tsukisup Milk (200 ml, 160 yen), which retains its original Hokkaido milk flavor, is popular.

About a 40-minute drive southwest from Otaru City is Yamanaka Dairy Farm, surrounded by nature in Akaigawa Town. This prominent farm in Hokkaido raises dairy cattle with natural feeds to produce dairy products.

The soft-serve ice cream made with their fresh Hokkaido milk became a big hit. For this style of ice cream, they have fans from all over the nation.

To get the full flavor of Hokkaido milk, it is additive-free. They have matcha (green tea) and cocoa flavor. However, their leading seller is the Milk Soft-Serve Ice Cream (270 yen) with full milk flavor. Also, the Strawberry Cup (330 yen) with the homemade fruits sauce on soft-served ice cream in a cup is famous.

They have opened up shops in other locations than the shop at the ranch in Akaigawa Town. There is a shop on Otaru Ekimae Dori, which is nearby Otaru’s sightseeing spot. Enjoy your soft-serve ice cream while strolling along the canal.

Niseko is a town rich in natural splendor, and it's also known for its tourism and agricultural products. An exquisite sweets paradise can also be found here!

As you gaze out at the green pastures of Niseko Takahashi Ranch over to Mt. Yotei, you'll surely find yourself thinking: "Wow, so this is Hokkaido!"

Niseko has a variety of places to enjoy in any season, such as pizza shop Mandriano, which uses plenty of locally handmade cheese in its dishes, to Prativo, where locally grown vegetables are used in their buffets.

Especially popular is Niseko Milk Studio, where you can enjoy sweets using fresh Hokkaido milk just freshly squeezed at the ranch. The ice cream and soft-serve are essential tastes in the early summer sightseeing in Niseko.

First off, we invite you to taste the smooth soft-serve ice cream (290 yen) that's filled with the milk's original sweetness. The flavor of the fresh Hokkaido milk unique to the ranch spreads divinely across the palate, with a refreshing aftertaste.

Another popular product, standard ice cream (350 yen), is also recommended. You can choose your two favorite flavors (or even double up on the same!) and enjoy the rich umami and taste of milk.

Inside the workshop, there are other "Niseko Milk Goodies" (from 650 yen) packed with the aroma of milk, plus freshly baked roll cakes that use plenty of fresh cream and 100% rice flour (1,000 yen) and other sweets are available.

The guest ranch Lake Hill Farm is located on top of a beautiful hill near Lake Toya. This is another popular spot for sweets lovers, as it offers exquisite gelato and soft-serve Hokkaido milk ice cream made by dairy farmers.

With the way of thinking, “to make good milk, you must start with good soil and grass,” they focus on a process that results in an excellent environment. They let the dairy cows freely roam in nature so they won’t be stressed.

Freshly squeezed milk will be processed that day and will be sold as gelato. The Makiba no Gelato (double, 410 yen) has around 40 flavors such as matcha, cream cheese, and corn to choose from.

Another recommendation is the Makiba no Milk Soft-Serve Ice Cream (410 yen). With a smooth texture, the milk flavor naturally expands in your mouth. Enjoy your delicious rich milky ice cream while sitting at the terrace seat, offering a magnificent view of Mt. Yotei and other mountains of Niseko.

Last but not least is the soft-serve ice cream at Biei Farm in Biei Town. Biei Town is known as “Oka no Machi,” the town of hills – and the farm is located in beautiful rolling countryside, mainly raising Jersey cattle and others such as Brown Swiss cattle and Holstein Friesian cattle.

With a strong belief that a stress-free healthy cattle will produce quality milk, the cows freely roam all year round. They say that the cows don’t sleep in the barn, but sleep in the forest.

They are proud of their creamy flavored milk squeezed from the free-roaming cows. The Soft Cream (cup, 360 yen; cone, 400 yen) only uses freshly squeezed milk and sugar beets from Hokkaido. It offers a pure rich and deep milk flavor. They offer it in a cup and cone, but we strongly recommend the cone.

Cones are made from Biei flour and handmade butter, which produces a nice crispiness that matches the tasty Hokkaido milk ice cream. There is a café on the farm, and the Pasteurized Milk (cup, 280 yen; 180 ml bottle, 320 yen), and Milk Pudding (350 yen) are famous. Enjoy the view of cows grazing the field and the beautiful patchwork hills of Biei with your ice cream.