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Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory is a must visit for any Studio Ghibli fan or ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ maniacs.
Located in the leafy backstreets of Tokyo’s hipster Shimokitazawa district, we visited this themed Totoro cream puff cafe and bakery and were ‘Spirited Away’. It is chock full of cute choux pastries and super cool cookies!
Established in 2007 and soon to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory is famous for its seasonal menu. The Tototo cream puff flavours change regularly so you never know what Studio Ghibli goodness you’ll find every time you visit.
As well as the more famous Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory cafe and bakery, there is a very small second branch in Tokyo’s Kichijoji district, around 2km away from Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum.
From prices to Totoro’s cream puff taste, here is our ultimate guide to visiting Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory in Tokyo Japan plus photos:
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How to get to Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory in Tokyo
Alas, the Cat Bus doesn’t go anywhere Shirohige’s – instead the nearest JR station to Shirohige’s / Tolo Cafe is Setagaya-Daita Station, a 3 minute walk away.
Alternatively, Shimo-Kitazawa Station is an 8 minute walk away.
If you want to visit the smaller / second Kichijoji Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory, it is a 4 minute walk from Kichijoji JR station – please note this is take out only; there is no seating area.
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What to expect at Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory
We visited the original Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory after a day of exploring Shimokitazawa and the nearby Bonus Track creative hub and shopping park – it is in a really quiet residential area, nothing like the streets of say Ginza or Nakano.
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory Daita consists of a ground floor bakery (where you can grab takeaway treats) and also an upstairs seating area and Studio Ghibli / Totoro themed cafe (also known as TOLO).
Alas on the day we visited, the upstairs seating area at Shirohige’s was really busy so we decided not to wait for a table.
Instead we went to the bakery downstairs to grab a takeaway Totoro cream puff and where we were greeted by lots of top Totoro plushies and theming. Read on for all the details and more photos…
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Tokyo’s Totoro cream puffs
Famous on the ‘gram and one of the most decadent desserts in Japan, this is one of the few semi-official Studio Ghibli dining experiences in Japan (other than say the restaurants at Ghibli Park / Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse).
As such, this cafe is a VERY popular place to visit – on busy days, expect to queue a considerable amount of time before getting your first taste of Totoro cream puffs.
The cream puffs look so much like Totoro (complete with eyes, mouth and his trademark leaf) that you almost feel guilty taking a bite out of Totoro’s head…almost.
Prices are reasonable given this is such a unique treat – Shirohige’s Cream Puff’s start from 600 Yen (around £3 / $3.80 USD) in 2024 for the standard custard cream puff or chocolate cream puff. Seasonal / special flavours all cost 640 Yen.
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Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory Flavours
There are around 9 flavours to choose from with some seasonal rotation – both the Totoro cream puffs filled with either chocolate cream or custard vanilla cream are available all year round.
We went for the Caramel Banana Cream which is only available from January to March – it was delicious and looked so cute. That said, it wasn’t the best cream puff we’d ever had (but certainly the best looking!)
The 7 Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory seasonal flavours are
- Strawberry Cream – January to June
- Marron (Japanese chestnut) & Marron Cream – October to December
- Blueberry yogurt cream – July to September
- Matcha Green tea cream – April to June
- Banana Caramel – January to March
- Mango cream – July to September
- Strawberries and cream cheese – October to December
If there is a particular flavour you really want to try, we’d recommend going early on near opening time as many of the popular flavours sell out by the afternoon.
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Packaging
A small mention about the takeaway packaging at Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory. Each Totoro Cream Puff is exquisitely wrapped in its own little white box with an ice pack, storage instructions plus a very cute Totoro souvenir sticker.
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Other Totoro themed gifts to buy at Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory
Obviously you are going to visit for the Totoro cream puffs at Shirohige’s but you can also buy other themed things to eat (or drink) to enjoy in the Studio Ghibli cafe upstairs or to take away.
One of the biggest sellers is My Neighbor Totoro themed biscuits and cookies – Totoro’s Cookie Set.
There is a smaller Totoro Cookie Set consisting of four Totoro shaped cookies in 4 flavours – chocolate, raspberry, plain and coffee hazelnut – for 600 Yen. Or treat yourself to the 9 or 24 piece cookie sets (SO many flavours like sweet potato or cinnamon).
If you are on a tight budget and don’t want to spend 600 Yen on a cream puff, there are also special themed individual biscuits like ‘chocolate mushrooms’ (180 Yen) or ‘Egg Mushroom’ (190 Yen).
Other gifts included candle sets and recipe cards – just to note this is more about the sweet treats than actual Studio Ghibli gifts.
If you want the latter, be sure to visit an official Studio Ghibli Donguri Republic store (there are four in Tokyo) or one of the two Studio Ghibli GBL clothing and lifestyle shops.
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Why is Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory so special / official?
This totally unique Tokyo cafe is allowed to produce Totoro themed cream puffs and Cat Bus shaped cookies as it was founded in 2007 by the sister in law of Studio Ghibli’s visionary founder, Hayao Miyazaki – so it truly is one of the more ‘official’ Studio Ghibli things to do in Tokyo.
Not only is it legit, they also do seasonal flavours meaning you can go back time and time again and try something new every time – magical!
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Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory opening hours
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory Daita / Shimo-Kitazawa is open from 10.30am to 6pm Wednesday to Monday.
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory Kichijoji is open Wednesday to Monday from 11am to 5pm
All store opening hours are correct as of May 2024.
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Shirohige’s official website
For all the latest flavours, events and new Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory cafes, check out the official Shirohige’s website here (in Japanese but Google Translates into English).
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Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory address
Tolo Cafe and Bakery, 5 Chome-3-1 Daita, Setagaya City, Tokyo 155 – 0033, Japan.
A second takeaway branch of Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory can be found at 2 Chome-7-5 Kichijoji Minamicho, Musashino, Tokyo 180 – 0003, Japan.
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