ORIGINS OF FORTUNE COOKIE TO BE DISCUSSED AT PROGRAM SEPT. 20

While no one denies that the Chinese fortune cookie is not from China, its actual origins remain a subject of discussion which will be at the heart of the program, "The All-American Fortune Cookie. . .from Japan?", set for Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

Featured in the discussion will be writer Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, filmmaker Derek Shimoda, who directed the documentary, "Killing the Fortune Cookie", and National Museum volunteer Gary Ono, who believes his grandfather played a role in the introduction of this unique item to Americans.

Lee’s book focuses on the history of Chinese food in America, but a portion looks into the question of where the fortune cookie originated. Like most people, Lee grew up believing the fortune cookie was Chinese, but discovered otherwise while reading Amy Tan’s best-selling book, The Joy Luck Club. While tracking down the origins, she met filmmaker Shimoda, who first believed the dispute centered on whether the fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco or in Los Angeles. Ono knew his grandfather, Suyeichi Okamura, had founded the Japanese manju-ya, Benkyodo Company, in San Francisco and remembered the business manufactured fortune cookies.

The San Francisco claim centered on Japanese Tea Garden founder Makoto Hagiwara, who was credited with selling fortune cookies at his tea garden, starting some time between 1910 and 1914. Hagiwara later contracted with Benkyodo and Okamura to make the fortune cookies for the tea garden.

One of Los Angeles’ claims was that David Jung of the Hong Kong Noodle Company had introduced the fortune cookie, but most interested parties acknowledge that the fortune cookie cracker is Japanese senbei. Another manju-ya, Fugetsudo, which was founded in Little Tokyo by the Kito family in 1903, has also laid claim to the fortune cookie. But the Kito family knew the Okamura family and Benkyodo, so it is possible they learned about the fortune cookie and introduced it to Los Angeles.

But, Lee feels that the fortune cookie traces its origins back to Japan. She interviewed a scholar, Yasuko Nakamichi of Kanegawa University, who spent six years tracking down the story of the fortune cookie. Nakamichi believes that the first version of the fortune cookie appeared in an area close to Kyoto in the 19th Century. Both Lee and Shimoda traveled to Japan to meet with Nakamichi.

All of these stories will be discussed by the participants as part of the presentation. This program is free to National Museum members or with general admission. To make reservations or for more information, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414.