Ricky Okamura clocks in to work at 3 a.m., typically hours before the first customer walks in to his store, but on March 26, his first customer beat him there by three hours, pitching a tent and lining up for manju outside Benkyodo Company in San Francisco’s Japantown. Lines have wrapped around the block, starting […]
Benkyodo: The bittersweet end of an era at S.F. Japantown’s oldest business
March 31, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Owners of Benkyodo, S.F. J-Town’s oldest business, plan to retire at end of year
May 13, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Japanese confections have been a San Francisco Japantown staple for more than a century, and while several similar businesses have come and gone, Benkyodo Company remains the last one standing, serving up fresh handmade mochi to customers since 1906. Community members, however, are learning that Bobby and Ricky Okamura, the brothers who run the shop, […]
How to make mochi
January 1, 2021 by Leave a Comment
MOCHI MAGIC: 50 TRADITIONAL AND MODERN RECIPES FOR THE JAPANESE TREAT By Kaori Becker (North Adams, Mass.: Storey Publishing, 2020, 192 pp., $16.95, paperback) “Mochi Magic†is a fun, cute — in fact downright adorable — and incredibly useful book of recipes for making, you guessed it, mochi. The diminutive volume is just 6-and-a-half inches […]
The family that makes mochi together, stays together
July 20, 2017 by Leave a Comment
THANK YOU VERY MOCHI By Paul Matsushima, Sophie Wang and Craig Ishii; illustrated by Jing Zheng (Los Angeles: Kizuna, 2016, 40 pp., $17.50, hardcover) Mochi-lovers, here’s a book you’ll enjoy reading with your children or grandchildren. It shows how mochi was made in the days before there were mochi machines. The grandfather in the story […]
Mikawaya, Little Tokyo manju-ya and creator of mochi ice cream, sold
July 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
LOS ANGELES — Mikawaya, the iconic 105-year-old Japanese confectionary maker known for creating the popular Mochi Ice Cream, has been sold to a private equity firm, Century Park Capital Partners. Mikawaya is a multi-million-dollar business that specializes in wagashi (Japanese pastries) and is mainly known for its Mochi Ice Cream, which is sold and distributed […]
THE GOCHISO GOURMET: Eat rice
January 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A few years ago, local comedian Frank DeLima delivered a commencement address that started like this: “Eat rice. If you only pay attention to one thing I say, pay attention to this: Rice is the breakfast of champions … the lunch of champions … the dinner of champions. Whole empires, entire dynasties have been built […]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Revisiting Tule Lake
August 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Interest in the 2012 Tule Lake Pilgrimage ran so high this year that the slots for participants were filled within three weeks. I signed up early, and was one of the lucky 400 or so to participate. People from the National Park Service, scholars and students, and any number of interested parties attended the pilgrimage. […]
Takahashi Fellows reflect on time spent in Japan
August 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Ten youth recently returned to San Francisco following their trip to Japan, through the inaugural Takahashi Ambassador Youth Fellowship Program, organized by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) and sponsored by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation. The students are: Mina Han, Owen Iwamasa Angeline Junaedy, Grant Kawahatsu, Yumi Kobayashi, […]
San Franciscans pound mochi at the Asian Art Museum
January 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
On Jan. 8, the mochitsuki group Kagami Kai gave a performance at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The event, which started at noon, included a mochi-pounding by the San Francisco-based group, in which people of all ages were invited to try swinging wooden mallets down on the wet rice paste. After the pounding, […]
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Connections to Clarksburg
CLARKSBURG, Calif. — Passing through acres of vineyards along the narrow country road, we are mesmerized by the serene rural landscape and miss the turn. We double back to find our way, and spy in the distance, a forlorn wooden-framed structure with mint julep painted trim that otherwise matches the silhouette of the old gakuen […]