A Bakery for Totoro Fans
After lunch at Sushi Mamire, the plan for the afternoon was simple: Totoro cream puffs.
Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory is the only bakery officially licensed by Studio Ghibli to make Totoro-shaped cream puffs. It’s in Daita, a quiet residential area in Setagaya, a short train ride from Shinjuku and a 15-minute walk from Shimokitazawa. You will know you’re there when you see the wooden sign with three Totoros on it.
Totoro Everywhere
The cream puff shop is downstairs and TOLO Coffee & Bakery is upstairs, where you can sit and eat. Every windowsill and shelf has Ghibli stuff on it: Totoros of every size, a bus stop sign, and even a little diorama with the Catbus. It’s a very small place, so we were lucky to get a table on a Sunday afternoon.
The Cream Puffs
And here he is. Each Totoro is a choux puff with little eyes, a nose and a leaf on its head, filled with cream. Custard and chocolate are the regulars, plus a seasonal flavour, at about ¥500 each.
It is honestly too cute to eat. So of course we spent ten minutes taking photos of it first, from every angle, like it was a celebrity.
Then we ate them. Head first. Sorry, Totoro.
We paid, walked out, and that’s when I suddenly needed to take a shit. Urgently. Back inside I went, and Minmin waited outside in the January cold. She still brings it up.
Walking to Shimokitazawa
From the shop, we walked to Shimokitazawa Station instead of going back to Setagaya-Daita. It’s a nice 15-minute stroll through quiet back streets, very different from Kabukicho a few hours earlier.
The sun was setting by then, which was perfect timing, because our next stop was all about the lights. On to the Meguro River!
Information About Shirohige's Cream Puff Factory
Totoro cream puffs, about ¥500 each, a few cheaper to take away. Eat in for the Ghibli figurines on every windowsill.