The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

  While I was bitching about where our tax money has gone, Christmas arrived in local department stores.

When I was a child, we were happily had a cake covered with butter (often substituted by shortening) cream icing, or an ice cream cake delivered by a local milkman. After the 80s, the cakes became more and more luxurious, and such cakes we used to be familiar with became rarely available.

Now, you can get every type of Christmas cakes. From early autumn, department stores and confectionaries offer you beautifully made catalogues of Christmas cakes. You are supposed to order in advance if you would like a Christmas cake made by a southg-after pttisier. Actually, some of the cakes in the catalogues have already been sold out now!

From stollen of Germany and bûche de Noël of France, to simple strawberry shortcakes in Japanese style (A layer cake of cream , strawberries, and sliced sponge cake ), the variety is endless.

 The confectioneries appearing in this catalogue represent Fukuoka’s trendy ones, but some internationally renowned names, such as Fortnum & Mason and GODIVA, joined this cake battle with their original cakes.

…Are they kidding? Or people haven’t waken from a dream of the 80s bubble economy?

I must confess I once bought one of these cakes. After collecting the cake, I merrily went  home by bike, then…um, I don’t want to say what happened to the elaborately decollated cake in the basket….(unfortunately I hadn’t got my almighty bike basket cover then).

This year I have decided to bake a cake for Christmas myself.

As long as you bake a cake at home, you don’t have to see a collapsed ¥3,000 cake!