Thrifty Christmas cake

Due to the price, hikes and many goods in Japan in 2025, many people are turning to cheaper Christmas cake options this Christmas. One Christmas cake that is getting notice is the plain  Christmas cake available at Lawson, like the one pictured. It comes with an open space in the top that you can, in theory, decorate yourself with strawberries or fruits or a topping of your choice.

It costs just under 3000 yen. Which makes it a lot cheaper than the strawberry topped and decorated Christmas cakes available in most supermarkets. This year the Christmas cakes I have seen so far are all more over 4000 yen. The price of most of the ingredients used in Christmas cake, particularly strawberries and eggs, all went up this year. Most cake manufacturers were forced to thereby increase the price of their Christmas cakes in order to make a profit.

However, some stores and cake manufacturers have made some changes to keep prices down, such as simplifying the decorations on their Christmas cakes.  For example, replacing small Christmas themed statues with paper decorations, and / or using basic wrapping on the product. Despite the hike in prices, it is expected that people will still buy them as celebrating Christmas with a Christmas cake is such a deeply ingrained cultural tradition in Japan. However, people may buy a different kind or smaller size than usual, or possibly make their own - that is the thriftiest way after all!