I mentioned before that ovens are rare in the Japanese kitchen. Nearly unheard of. But they do like their cakes for special occasions. So there are bakeries around. Mostly full of sweets. This is the one near our house. Alert readers will note that the name is spelled two different ways on the two signs. Saint Nicolaus, and Saint Nicoraus. (To the Japanese ear, the two sounds are equivalent, of course.)

And if anybody is going to get a kick out of it, it would be Jolly Ol' Saint Nick himself. He'd laugh from his belly as he walked in to buy two or three Christmas cakes.

In August.

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