Beloved American frozen dessert drink, progenitor to the Slurpee, comes to Japan, but leaves cherry flavor behind.

Japan has a pretty strong dessert drink game, what with all the matcha lattes, Japan-exclusive Frappuccinos, and what not. But we’re going to have to make room in our beverage calendar for a new arrival to Japan, as the country is finally going to be getting Icees!

Though Icees have been around since the 1960s in their land of origin, the U.S., they’ve remained unavailable in Japan. That’s all going to change next month, though, thanks to Tokyo-based restaurant and supermarket supplier Ozax, which will become Icee’s official Japanese distributor.

Icees are sometimes mistakenly thought to be an imitator of 7-Eleven’s Slurpees, as they’re both carbonated frozen beverages that come in a variety of sweet flavors. Actually, though, Icee is the original. In fact, 7-Eleven’s Slurpee brand was initially just renamed Icees, sold in the convenience stores under a licensing agreement with the Icee Company, which was founded in Southern California.

Luckily for Icee, 7-Eleven stores in Japan don’t regularly sell Slurpees, so there’s not much risk of the drink being seen as an imposter here. More important is providing flavors to suit the Japanese palate. The classic Icee flavors are cherry and blue raspberry, but while the latter will be part of the initial lineup in Japan, cherry will not, likely a result of Japan in general not being so into cherry-flavored desserts (sakura/cherry blossom is an entirely different taste). Instead, the bright red Icee being served in Japan will be strawberry, and rounding out the trio will be yellow peach.

▼ And a cute mascot character can’t hurt, this being Japan and all.

Icees have long been a staple of American movie theater snack bars, and they’ll make their Japan debut at Toho Cinemas, going on sale at the Hibiya, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Roppongi Hills, and Fuchu branches of the theater chain on December 6, with further expansion to come later, giving us a sweet alternative to Japan’s new Drinkable Mayo.

Source, images: PR Times
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