[Snack]plein de saveur de crème glacé au Japon

Your typical ice cream in Japan is rather vanilla. Things usually don't get much crazier than green tea. But in some places, the ice cream gets downright strange. Viper ice cream, anyone?
The above containers read "mamushi" (まむし) in Japanese, and on the label, right next to "almond," that is exactly what's listed as an ingredient.
In Japan, this kind of ice cream is called "novelty ice cream" (変わり種アイス) or "strange ice cream" (奇妙なアイスクリーム).
Sadly (or thankfully, rather), you can't really walk into any old Family Mart in Japan and buy snake ice cream. You'll probably just find a buncha Häagen-Dazs flavors.
A Namco-run "food amusement park" in Tokyo called Namja Town used to have an ice cream museum called "Ice Cream City" that displayed many of these flavors. However, that attraction ended last year.

But if you look around can find smaller ice cream makers, crafting truly odd flavors. You know, like "raw horse meat" (above). Then, there are soft cream stands who whip up all sorts of interesting treats, such as squid ink-flavored ice cream (below).

Some of the ice creams are just "flavored." Others have little bits of stuff in them.
These novelty ice creams are sold in local areas—often tourists spots. So, even when Japanese people traveling within the country happen upon these flavors, they are very surprised.
Here, have a look at some of the most exotic (?) flavors you can find in Japan:

Soy sauce. Hrm, not too bad.

Soft serve ice cream with fried oysters. Oh boy.

Shark fin ice cream with, apparently, actual shark fin.

Soft serve with whitebait.


Sea urchin ice cream.

Beer-flavored.


Miso ramen ice cream. 

GOODNESS. That's monjayaki ice cream. And yes, monjayaki looks like barf.


Grilled eggplant ice cream.


Nattou ice cream. Nattou is fermented bean that smells... pretty bad!


Japanese pickle flavored ice cream.


Fried shrimp ice cream. (Apparently, however, that's marzipan.)


Slow boiled egg with ice cream. And marzipan, that ain't.

Cow tongue ice cream.

Salad ice cream. Notice the cucumber and the red bell pepper?


Eel ice cream with a type of Japanese pepper.

Wakame ice cream.


Chicken wing ice cream, which apparently tastes like vanilla... and chicken wings.


Crab ice cream. It's handmade!

Octopus with soy sauce ice cream. You didn't think we'd make it through without octopus, did you?

This month, Häagen-Dazs is releasing two special flavors in Japan to mark its 30th anniversary in the country. And, let me tell you, they look pink. But special Häagen-Dazs flavors are not new to Japan.
The anniversary flavors are "Sakura" (which is Japanese for "cherry blossoms") and "Rose" (which is English for, uh, "rose"). The Sakura ice cream tastes like sakuramochi. Here, have a look:

You'll be, perhaps, saddened to know that people on Twitter are saying the Rose flavor smells like bath powder or toilet freshener. Others say it smells and tastes good.
Häagen-Dazs releases unique flavors in the West, such as Peanut Butter Pie, Peppermint Bark, and Coconut Macaroon—which don't quite translate to Japanese tastebuds. And while Häagen-Dazs hasn't quite hit the unique flavor quotient that Kit-Kat or Doritos has in Japan, it has released some interesting tastes. Most of them, however, are standard fare!

Many of these unique ones are seasonal and only offered for a "limited time only" (期間限定 or "kikan gentei"). Let's check them out:

Purple Sweet Potato (紫いも or "Murasaki Imo").

Tropical Cream Cheese.

Cocoa Cookie and Coffee Almond.

Green Tea Truffle (better than regular old green tea, no?).

Pumpkin (not totally unusual as Pumpkin Cranberry was released outside Japan).

But Pumpkin Pudding? M'kay.

Forêt Noire (black forest).

Green Tea and Cookies and Cream. Yes.

Coffee Milk. Not just coffee. There's milk, too!

Butter Cookie and Caramel Scotch (not an odd flavor, but damn, I want this).

"Japonais" (not evident from the name, this is green tea and red bean ice cream).

Royal Cassis Milk (blackcurrant milk).

These all look highly edible! Unlike Japanese viper, eel, and horse ice cream.

D'autre nouvelle saveur de Hagen daz vienne de sortir et ils sont de plus en plus... ''étrange''!!!!    a chaque fois qu'ils en sortent...... qu'est-ce que vous en pensez??? aimeriez vous les essayer???

Les 2 nouvelles sont.... Tomate ET cerise......  puis Carotte ET orange......

ouin..... méchant mixe!!!

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How about some nice Häagen-Dazs ice cream? With tomatoes and cherries? If that's not your thing, you can always try carrots and oranges. Japanese site Gigazine did just that.
As previously mentioned, Häagen-Dazs has released some interesting flavors in Japan. But these might be the most interesting. Ever.

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For the tomato and cherry flavor, Gigazine reported that that the first impression is tasting tomato juice, followed by a sweet flavor. It's not a sweet tomato flavor, but rather, it apparently tastes like sugary has been added.
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From the sound of it, however, the carrot and orange ice cream has a strong carrot taste, followed by the bitterness of an orange peel, which apparently cuts out the earthy carrot flavor. That being said, it does seems like carrots and oranges are a pretty good match. And this ice cream is apparently sweet as well.
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Gigazine says these unusual ice creams might seem like a suitable after dinner treat, but notes that they might not go well with coffee or tea. How about a plate of lettuce?