Departures is KCET's hyper-local web documentary, community engagement tool and digital literacy program about the cultural history of Los Angeles' neighborhoods.

BRIAN KITO - Fugetsu-Do Confectionery

Brian Kito
Brian Kito
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1/2: Fugetsu-Do Confectionery
2/2: Origins of the Chinese Fortune Cookie

On East First Street in the heart of the Historic District of Little Tokyo, you can find a small confectionery, serving Japanese rice "mochi" cakes and sweet bean-filled rice cake, better known as "manju." Family owned and operated since 1903, Fugetsu-Do Confectionery keeps its doors open thanks to Brian Kito, who continues the family tradition by baking, steaming, molding and rolling the most exquisite Japanese candy in Los Angeles. Fugestu-Do's fame, however, not only comes from making these delicacies, but also from inventing the first Chinese Fortune cookie in America. In the interviews above, Brian Kito tells us about the history of the family business and how a call from the Chinese Historical Society in Boston made him reconsider the stories his father told him about the invention of Chinese Fortune cookies.

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