the world famous Mochi ice cream
World famous 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 in Poston, Arizona. 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 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 all over the world.
