When we took a family trip to the West Coast to visit art colleges for my oldest child, we stayed near Fisherman’s Wharf. There, at the Boudin Bakery, I saw an exhibit about inventions that come out of San Francisco. I noticed that the fortune cookie was one of them. I didn’t think about this until years later, when I was inspired to write about the origin of the fortune cookie. I just assumed that it was invented in San Francisco, but when I dug around for more information, I discovered that it was a mystery!
Fortune Cookies for Everyone!: The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat came out of this digging. This past May, I visited some of the sites in the picture book.
My first stop was the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. This spectacular garden, designed by Makoto Hagiwara, is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States and was built for the California Midwinter International Exposition, a World’s Fair in 1894.
Here’s my video:
Makoto Hagiwara created the fortune cookie, first making them by hand using a kata, or a kind of spatula grill. He gave them to customers with their check as a little gift. They loved them. The fortune cookies were so popular that he needed help and asked his friend, Suyeichi Okamura, who owned the Benkyo-Do. It was Suyeichi who suggested switching the flavor to the familiar vanilla and sugar that all fortune cookies have now.
The Benkyodo Company was founded in 1906 and moved locations in San Francisco’s Japantown several times. When the third generation of this family — Ricky and Bobby Okamura — retired on March 31, 2022, this legendary icon closed forever. It is turning into a Chinese restaurant specializing in Shanghainese food.
I also visited the other Japanese bakery in Los Angeles that claimed to have invented the fortune cookie, Fugetsu-Do.
It was founded in 1903 by Seiichi Kito in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and is the oldest Japanese mochi shop in the United States.
I bought the green mochi with red bean paste inside in honor of my mother. It was her favorite!
The kata that Makoto Hagiwara used to make the first fortune cookies was once displayed in Fugetsu-Do’s window.
And there you have it! My Mother’s Day coincided with visits to both bakeries in my book. And here’s the final connection. I stayed at Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo. MIYAKO!!
Grandma Miyako in Fortune Cookies for Everyone! is named after my mother. It was her Japanese name. I think she was smiling down on us!
If anyone wants to review Fortune Cookies for Everyone! on Amazon or Goodreads, I will send you a PDF copy.
I will also select one person for a signed hard copy!
Please leave a comment to win a hard copy, and email me at pragmaticmomblog@gmail.com to get a PDF copy.
p.s. Related posts:
How to make an Origami Fortune Cookie!
Dorktales Podcast about Fortune Cookies for Everyone!
Fortune Cookies for Everyone! featured in Boston Public Library Recommended Book List!
FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE! is a Notable Social Studies Award Winner
Fortune Cookies for Everyone! wins California Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award
FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection!
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