Mikawaya is an American

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

producer specializing in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese pastries,

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

s, and

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

s. The company's products include traditional wagashi, as well as newer offerings, such as mochi ice cream. Mochi ice cream, which was created by Mikawaya's former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and President

Frances Hashimoto Frances Kazuko Hashimoto (August 26, 1943 – November 4, 2012) was a Japanese- American businesswoman and community activist. Hashimoto was a key figure and proponent of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood. The head of Mikawaya since 1970, ...

, now represents the majority of Mikawaya's annual sales.

History

Mikawaya was founded as a small, traditional Japanese wagashi confectionery store in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles in 1910. In 1942, The owners of the family-owned business, husband and wife Koroku and Haru Hashimoto, were forced to close their business with the outbreak of World War II. Koroku and Haru Hashimoto were interned and sent to the

Poston War Relocation Center The Poston Internment Camp, located in Yuma County (now in La Paz County) in southwestern Arizona, was the largest (in terms of area) of the ten American concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority during World War II. The sit ...

Poston, Arizona Poston is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in La Paz County, Arizona, United States, in the Parker Valley. The population was 285 at the 2010 census, down from 389 in 2000. During World War II, Poston was the site o ...

. They returned to Los Angeles following their release and the end of the war. The Hashimotos reopened Mikawaya at 244 E. First Street in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood on December 23, 1945. Frances Hashimoto became CEO of Mikawaya in 1970 when she was just 27 years old. Her father had recently died and her mother asked her to join the family-run confectionery business. Hashimoto, who was working as an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

teacher at the time, considered her decision for six months before leaving teaching and joining Mikawaya.

Expansion

Hashimoto sought to expand the family's business from one location in Little Tokyo to a multi-store enterprise. In 1974, she opened a second bakery location on Fourth Street in Los Angeles. Under Hashimoto, who served as CEO and president, Mikawaya expanded to include additional locations in Little Tokyo, Torrance, California, Gardena, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii. On June 29, 2021, the company's flagship store located at the Japanese Village Plaza in Little Tokyo permanently closed.

The Mochi ice cream line

Frances Hashimoto is credited as the inventor of the popular mochi ice cream. She also spearheaded the line's introduction the American market through Mikawaya. Hashimoto's husband, Joel Friedman, initially conceived the idea of wrapping small orbs of ice cream with a coating of mochi, a sweet Japanese rice cake, during the early 1990s. Hashimoto expanded on the idea, offering seven flavors of mochi ice cream made by Mikawaya. The mochi ice cream line proved a hit with consumers, expanding Mikawaya from more traditional Japanese pastries like chestnut buns or rice cakes. Mikawaya now sells its mochi ice cream in Albertsons, Trader Joe's, Ralphs, and

Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...

. Mochi ice cream now accounts for the majority of Mikawaya's sales.

References

External links

MikawayaMochi Ice Cream
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikawaya Confectionery companies of the United States Ice cream brands Food and drink companies established in 1910 Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Japanese-American culture in California 1910 establishments in California