While shortcake and stollen tend to make an appearance in Japan during the festive season, it’s a little rarer to see mince pies on the country’s shelves.
In order to make them, though, nearly every recipe you find will include “mincemeat” as an ingredient, implying that you could just buy a packet somewhere, which is certainly not the case in Japan.
Of course, mince pies originally had actual minced meat in them, as opposed to the mincemeat made of chopped fruit and spices that is used today. The pies were a good way to preserve ground pork or mutton, which was used alongside spices, raisins, orange peel and other fruit. So it makes sense that modern recipes require you to age your homemade mincemeat over at least several days.