Fukusaya (福砂屋) Castella Cafe

Fukusaya has made castella sponge cake in Nagasaki since 1624, making it one of the oldest confectionery houses in Japan and a direct link to the Portuguese-influenced sweets that entered the country through Nagasaki's port during the Edo period. The brand's downtown cafe location offers both retail boxes of the signature cake and a small seating area for enjoying a slice with tea on the spot. The original castella recipe uses just flour, eggs, sugar, and starch syrup, baked slowly to produce a moist, dense sponge with a distinctive layer of coarse sugar crystals baked into the bottom crust — a texture and flavor that has become the defining marker of authentic Nagasaki castella. Beyond the plain original, the cafe serves castella paired with matcha tea and offers mini castella pieces suited to casual snacking or gifting. The interior is understated and traditional, with dark wood fittings and a quiet, refined atmosphere more akin to a heritage confectionery shop than a casual cafe, though the pace remains relaxed and welcoming rather than formal. There is no dress code, and the shop is walk-in only, with no reservation system needed for what is fundamentally a bakery-cafe experience. Boxes of castella, priced from roughly ¥1,400 to ¥2,800 ($9-18), remain one of the most popular souvenirs purchased by visitors to Nagasaki, and the brand's four-century history is treated as a point of civic pride throughout the city.