Black Mont Blanc? Blanc means White in French, and the name is nothing but weird. Some may say so if they are kind of familiar with French. Mont Blanc is the popular mountain between Italy and France, as you know. It is the highest one among the Alps. And one Japanese man saw it, got inspired by the superb view, produced an ice cream product in 1969. It is the Black Mont Blanc.
One Japanese man tripped to France for business in 1960's. And he went to see Mont Blanc on the way. He was absorbed in the beautiful sight, thought "it will be so delicious if the white mountain is covered by chocolate." Why did he guess like thus? He was Takeshita Kotaro, the president of a Japanese food company Takeshita Seika. Kotaro already passed away, but you can still find the company in Saga, Kyushu, Japan. In 2020, his granddaughter Takeshita Mayu manages it as the president.
Takeshita Factory
File: Takeshita seika.jpg
from the Japanese Wikipedia
(Photoed on May 7, 2010)
Anyway, Kotaro was inspired by Mont Blanc, produced an ice cream product. It is the Black Mont Blanc. What kind of ice cream? you may ask. They coated vanilla ice cream with chocolate, fully sprinkled some cookie crunch upon it. It tastes sweet and crispy so much. They began to sell Black Mont Blanc in 1969 May, and it became popular in Kyushu at once.
It is surely well-known in Kyushu, but I suppose not so in East Japan (Kyushu is a part of West Japan). If you can have a chance to visit Kyushu, I would like you to taste the little Mont Blanc painted black.