The Best Japanese Festivals & Events On the Web

                     
×
2024 - 24th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival Event Celebrate Spring - El Camino College [See Video]
2024 Annual Cherry Blossoms Event Watch - Lake Balboa - Cherry Blossom Trees
2024 Kintsugi for Beginners (A Traditional Japanese Art Form in Which Gold is Used to Repair Broken Ceramics)
2024 Cherry Blossom Origami Workshop (Make Origami Cherry Blossoms and Other Flowers to Ring in the Spring)
2024 - 7th Annual Celebration of Cherry Blossoms at Artechouse DC
2024 Japanese American WWII Camp Survivors on Trip to Topaz, Utah
2024 Annual Spokane Buddhist Temple Obon Festival Event (A Festival Honoring Our Ancestors: Bon Odori Dancing, Games, Japanese Artists & Crafts..)
2024 - Come Celebrate Kodomo No Hi, or Children's Day! Make a Koinobori, Eat Kashiwa Mochi, Performances..
2024 Richmond Cherry Blossom Festival at Garry Point Park (255 Akebono Cherry Trees) [VIDEO]
ANIFEST 2024! Your Beloved Anime Festival - Torrance Cultural Arts Center
2024 - 23rd Annual Ohanami - BGSU Cherry Blossom Festival Celebrates Japanese Culture (Sushi & Japanese Snacks, Origami, Tea Ceremony..)
2024 - 7th Annual Kizuna Japanese Spring Festival Event (Japanese Food, Taiko, Music, Dance, Origami, Calligraphy, Tea Ceremony, Kimono..)
2024 - 2nd Annual Spring Sake Festival Event (Festival is About Spring, Sake & Sake Appreciation)

Fugetsu-Do (Over 100 Years Old, Since 1903), Little Tokyo


Fugetsu-Do (Over 100 Years Old, Since 1903), Little Tokyo | Japanese-City.com
Location

Event Location

315 E. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
 
Map of Fugetsu-Do (Over 100 Years Old, Since 1903), Little Tokyo, 315 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles

Fugetsu-Do has been a family owned and operated confectionery store in Little Tokyo since 1903. Japanese rice cakes, more commonly known as mochi (rice cake) and manju (sweet bean-filled rice cake), are the staple. The shop, which is currently operated by Brian Kito, is located on East First Street, in the heart of the Historic District of Little Tokyo. Some of the family history was shared with me, and I welcome the opportunity to put down on paper one family's history in the United States.

Family Start in the US (1903 - 1920)
Brian's grandfather, Seiichi Kito, was born in Gifu, in Central Japan. Seiichi came to the United States in May, 1903 and went to where other Japanese immigrants were - in the East First Street district of Los Angeles The Japanese population numbered 3,000 and by November, Seiichi started producing sweets and opened Fugetsu-Do with a couple of friends. As his business partners passed away, Seiichi found himself managing Fugetsu-Do for the next 25 years.

Even on rainy and windy days, Seiichi would deliver his sweets. He carried manju and mochi around in a pouch, much like a backpack. He would also distribute early Rafu Shimpos, which were free in those days. Often, people who wanted to pick up a copy of the Rafu, which also began in 1903, would buy something from Fugetsu-Do, as well. So, the two family businesses were helping each other from the earliest days. As time went on, products from Fugetsu-Do were in demand up and down the coast of Southern California.

As Fugetsu-Do flourished, so did Little Tokyo. Fugetsu-Do's success was largely due to the hard work of the entire Kito family. Early account tells of Seiichi's wife, Tei, running the front counter while their six children helped out. Not only the Kitos, but Tei's brother, Sakuma, was very instrumental to the early success of the Fugetsu-Do, as well. This labor-intensive business kept members of both families quite busy.

Little Tokyo was the social, cultural, religious and economic center of the largest concentration of Japanese Americans in the US, and during the holidays, comfort foods were in high demand. Manju and mochi are traditional gifts in the Japanese custom, and during the few weeks before New Year's Day, the entire Kito family would work around the clock to fill the large number of orders.

Seiichi and Tei were to have six more children. But of the twelve children, five did not survive childhood, including the two eldest. Children not making it to adulthood was quite common in those days. And tragically, Tei passed away in 1920, a year after the birth of their son, Roy. Suddenly, Seiichi found himself to be a widower and a single parent of seven children. He was forced to make the difficult decision of having some of his children raised in Japan by in-laws and close family friends. Roy, the youngest child, was one of those to be raised in Japan.

   

Contact

Phone: (213) 625-8595

Location Website


Click to Visit

  (For Event Infomation See Event Website Page)
Japanese Festival Events At This Location

    There Are No Current Japanese Events


     Click to Submit Japanese Events.


Authentic Japanese Gardens (United States)


Best Japanese Gardens

Japanese Rock 'Zen' Gardens (United States)


Best Japanese Rock 'Zen' Gardens

Japanese Teahouses (United States)


Best Japanese Teahouses

Japanese Museum Art


Japanese Museums   Map of Japanese Museums