BODY: Hokkaido's most famous souvenir just got a villager-approved glow-up. Starting today, August 14, Ishiya—the confectioner behind the legendary "Shiroi Koibito" ("White Lover") cookies—is selling a limited-run collaboration tin themed around Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The centerpiece is the character Jun (known as Julian in English), the dreamy blue unicorn villager and one of the game's most beloved residents. His likeness adorns a special 36-piece tin of the classic langue de chat cookies sandwiching white chocolate. The price is ¥4,600 (roughly $31), and the tin is available in strictly limited quantities.
Crucially, this is a Hokkaido exclusive: the collab tin is sold only at the Daimaru Sapporo department store in Sapporo City. The sales period runs through September 6, but Ishiya warns that sales will end the moment stock runs out—so the real deadline may come far sooner.
For the uninitiated, White Lover isn't just any snack. Since 1976 it has been the definitive Hokkaido omiyage (souvenir), the box practically mandatory for anyone returning from a trip up north. Pairing it with Animal Crossing—Nintendo's cozy island-life juggernaut that sold tens of millions of copies during the pandemic—is a pitch-perfect meeting of two comfort brands.
The insider take
From a Tokyo vantage point, this collab is a masterclass in the "gotochi" (regional-exclusive) strategy that drives Japan's souvenir economy. Making the tin available only in Sapporo transforms it from a mere snack into a travel trophy—the kind of item that gets resold on Mercari at a markup within hours. Choosing Julian over a mascot like Tom Nook is a savvy nod to the fandom's actual favorites; he's a perennial top-tier villager whose "dreamy" personality has near-cult status. Expect early sellouts and a scramble among collectors who can't make it to Hokkaido themselves.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).