Japanese Christmas cake and a bit of history

104 years ago, a small (at the time) sweets-making company, Fujiya, launched the first Christmas cake in Japan, the beginning of an amazingly popular modern tradition. It was a fruitcake inspired by the British style Christmas cake that was made for the foreigners stationed in Yokohama.

The idea soon caught on and, in 1921, after the owner of the company visited the USA to study the confectionery industry, he opened a specialized shop in Ginza, selling a Christmas sponge cake, decorated with butter cream. But, as you can imagine, that cake was still very expensive.

During the 60s, when the economic situation improved significantly, an advertising campaign led by Fujiya, managed to establish the mass phenomenon we see today... At the same time, the cake type was changed, with the butter cream replaced by whipped cream, decorated with strawberries.