Castella (カステラ, kasutera) is a type of Japanese sponge cake and is known for its sweet, moist brioche-style flavour and texture.

[8] Similar European sponge cakes also reference Spain in their names, such as in Italian: Pan di Spagna, in Portuguese: Pão d’Espanha, in Romanian: Pandișpan, in Bulgarian: пандишпан, in Serbian: патишпањ, in Greek: Παντεσπάνι, and in Turkish: Pandispanya.

The Portuguese introduced things such as guns, tobacco, pumpkins, and cakes baked with wheat flour, eggs, and milk.

In the Edo period, in part due to the cost of sugar, castella was an expensive dessert to make despite the ingredients sold by the Portuguese.

Siberia, castella cake filled with yōkan (sweet bean jelly), was popular in the Meiji era; it had a resurgence since it appeared in the 2013 animated film The Wind Rises, by Hayao Miyazaki.