Makoto Hagiwara, Hidden Hero of History

A tale of artistry, innovation, and lasting legacy! Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese American landscape architect, transformed a World’s Fair exhibit into San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden. It's the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, still cherished as a place of peace and natural beauty. Makoto was also the inventive mind behind the modern fortune cookie! Despite wartime hardships and lost recognition, his creativity, friendship, and tasty experiments turned a simple crunchy cookie into a sweet symbol of good fortune enjoyed around the world.

Go to the episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/makoto-hagiwara/          

Get a free activity guide on Makoto Hagiwara:  https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/ep121freePDF 

This episode of Dorktales Storytime is presented by Red Comet Press, and their hardcover children’s book, Fortune Cookies for Everyone: The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat by Mia Wenjen with illustrations by Colleen Kong-Savage. This Smithsonian collaboration unwraps the mystery of the fortune cookie and the immigrant stories behind it: https://www.redcometpress.com/nonfiction/fortunecookie

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS STORY, try this playlist of Asian American Hidden Heroes of History who were belonging builders and community creators like Makoto Hagiwara: https://bit.ly/belonging-and-community  

CREDITS: Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. Today’s story was written and produced by Molly Murphy and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks.

It's not too late to join our Kooky Spooky Countdown challenge and win fun rewards! Get more details and grab your tracker: https://jonincharacter.com/kooky-spooky-countdown/

Chapters

• 1:04 Inspired by Fortune Cookies for Everyone!
• 1:38 Forty Winks Tea Shop
• 5:04 Jonathan tells the story of Makoto Hagiwara
• 7:28 The Japanese Tea Garden
• 8:51 The inventor of the Fortune Cookie
• 12:09 Who created the Fortune Cookie was almost lost!
• 14:51 Ruth Asawa's tribute to Makoto
• 16:17 Thank you to Red Comet Press
• 16:48 Credits, how to contact Jonathan and Redge, Theme Song

Transcript

JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups, and this is an inspiring story about a hidden hero of history.

THEME SONG: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tail, so let us regale you.

JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups, and this is an inspiring story about a hidden hero of history.

Today’s story is inspired by a brand-new release from Red Comet Press: Fortune Cookies for Everyone: The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat by Mia Wenjen with illustrations by Colleen Kong-Savage. This Smithsonian collaboration unwraps the crunchy mystery of the fortune cookie and the immigrant stories behind it. Grownups, you’ll find this Junior Library Guild Gold Selection at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite indie bookstore. Check our show notes for the details.

(The sounds of a pond

REDGE: You were right, Jonathan. I did need a moment of peace and tranquility. 

JONATHAN: Rest is important for recharging your creativity. 

REDGE: And boy, do I need a recharge. You know, with all of the fall festivals I’ve been planning for the Folktale Forest, my knitting classes, the autumn play that’s in rehearsals... And my snack inventions, of course! 

JONATHAN: Snack inventions? 

REDGE: Yes! Like the Poppin’ Popcorn & Candy Mix. 

JONATHAN: Ooo! 

REDGE: (Becomes serious, like an evil scientist sharing his plan) Through much trial and error, I’ve achieved the perfect mixture of popcorn with no unpopped kernels, precisely measured butter and seasoning, and expertly balanced chocolate candy clusters that maintain their shape and size in the popcorn bag but perfectly melt in the mouth when you eat them. Mwahahaha!

JONATHAN: Yum! 

REDGE: (Dreamily) Major yum…

JONATHAN: Well, I will say, you picked the perfect place to take a break from festival planning and knitting and…snack…inventing. 

REDGE: Ever since Hesper and Vesper took me on a journey through Slumberland, I couldn’t stop thinking about Forty Winks Tea Shop. 

JONATHAN: I can see why! I love that we get to sit on these giant lilypads in the water. 

REDGE: Isn’t it so cozy? 

JONATHAN: And I love a good cup of tea. This Pep-In-Your-Step Peppermint is excellent. 

REDGE: And don’t forget the lavender shortbread tea cookies! They’re simply divine! 

JONATHAN: The cookies are amazing. (Mouth full of cookie) Like these ginger snaps! I think they’re my favorite. 

REDGE: You know, we should be sure to compliment the chef and owner of this fine establishment, Earl the Tea Toad! 

JONATHAN: That’s not a bad idea. 

REDGE: Earl! Oh Earl! 

(The sounds of a pond and soothing outdoor scene fade)

EARL: Why, hello there, Redge. Good to see ya again. 

REDGE: And you, Earl! This is my best friend, Jonathan! 

EARL: Why hello there! A pleasure to meet you! 

REDGE: We were just discussing how incredible your tea cookies are! Each flavor is baked to perfection. 

EARL: Well, isn’t that too kind. 

JONATHAN: How do you come up with your recipes? 

REDGE: Unless you wish to keep it a secret! 

EARL: No, no, I love sharing my passion for brewing up beverages and baking cookies with my friends. Over the years, I’ve written all of my spells for perfect teas and treats in this - 

(A magical sound, and a light ding like from an oven or toaster) 

JONATHAN: Woah! 

REDGE: You just pulled a book out of thin air! 

EARL: Not just any book! This is “A Tea Toad’s Guide to Tea & Treats”! 

REDGE: Like a magic recipe…spell book! 

EARL: That’s exactly right! I come up with my recipes through lots of trial and error, mixing ingredients this way and that, tasting things, and adding a bit of my Tea Toad magic, and when I get it juuuust right, the recipe writes itself right into my book. Then I initial it to seal the deal. You can see two t’s right here in the corner. For Tea Toad! 

REDGE: Wow! 

JONATHAN: That’s so cool! 

REDGE: You know, Earl, I like to dabble in these pursuits as well! 

EARL: A fellow baker? 

REDGE: I prefer to call myself a (with a flourish) snack inventor!

EARL: That’s just delightful! 

JONATHAN: You know…

REDGE: Oh? He’s thinking, he’s thinking…

JONATHAN: Sitting in a tea house, and listening to all this talk about creating delicious food and snacks…

REDGE: Ooo! Earl, I think we’re about to get a story! 

JONATHAN: It makes me think of someone from my world. Someone I think you both will love. 

REDGE: Wonderful! 

EARL: Well, don’t mind me taking a seat on this lilypad next to you fellas so I can listen. 

REDGE: Yes, do join us! Let me pour you some tea! 

EARL: Why, thank you! 

REDGE: Alright, Jonathan. All set. Who will we be learning about today? 

(Hidden Hero of History trumpets)

JONATHAN: Makoto Hagiwara! 

REDGE: I can’t wait! 

JONATHAN: Makoto was a landscape architect and an inventor! But before I tell you more, let me introduce you to the fortune cookie. 

(A magical sound)

REDGE: Look! The magical recipe book! Have you ever seen it glow like that, Earl? 

EARL: Never! It opened to a new page. 

JONATHAN: Oh wow! The book is sketching a fortune cookie! 

REDGE: That is beautiful! 

JONATHAN: A fortune cookie is a thin, crispy cookie that’s folded in a special style. They’re made from ingredients like flour, sugar, and vanilla. When you break one open, you may find a mystery inside! 

REDGE: I love a good mystery! 

JONATHAN: There is a piece of paper in the cookie that has a written fortune, a wise saying, and sometimes lucky numbers.

EARL: Look at the recipe book! 

REDGE: It says, “An exciting opportunity awaits you!” 

JONATHAN: Oh! I’ve gotten that exact fortune before! 

REDGE: Lovely! 

JONATHAN: Makoto’s story begins before the fortune cookie, though. He immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1878. He lived in San Francisco, California. That’s where I’m from. 

EARL: Must be a great place then. 

JONATHAN: Aw shucks! In San Francisco, there’s a large park spread out over 1,017 acres in the city. It’s called the Golden Gate Park. 

REDGE: Sounds so fancy! 

JONATHAN: In 1894, the World’s Fair was in San Francisco, and there was a “Japanese Village” exhibition at Golden Gate Park. That exhibition eventually was transformed by the landscape architect himself, Makoto Hagiwara.

EARL: And what did it become? 

REDGE: Yes, tell us! 

JONATHAN: Wait a second! 

(Magical flourish)

JONATHAN: You can see it here in the magical recipe book! 

REDGE: The Japanese Tea Garden!

JONATHAN: As you can see here, Makoto had an incredible vision for creating a Japanese Garden with a tea house on 5 acres of land.

EARL: It sounds a lot like what we try to do here at my old Forty Wink establishment. Preserving a natural wetland for all to relax and enjoy. 

JONATHAN: Exactly! Today, the garden still stands! It is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States! It has an arched drum bridge, pagodas, and many native Japanese plants. 

EARL: Oooo, like what? 

REDGE: Uh…Earl…I think you can see them…right there! 

(A magical flourish)

EARL: Are there miniature trees growing out of my recipe book?!

REDGE: Stunningl!

JONATHAN: Yes, these are exactly the kinds of trees in the park. Cherry blossoms that bloom in the spring, Japanese maple…oh look! A little koi pond! 

REDGE: Fish! 

EARL: I love a good pond, I can’t lie. 

JONATHAN: Makoto worked hard to expand and improve the garden and built a twenty-four-room house that his family lived in on the property. His daughter, her husband, and their three children continued the legacy of taking care of the garden. 

REDGE: Astounding! But Jonathan…

JONATHAN: What is it, Redge? 

REDGE: How does the fortune cookie fit into this story? 

EARL: I was beginning to wonder myself. 

JONATHAN: Right! Well… Makoto Hagiwara invented the fortune cookie! 

REDGE: A…a…a snack inventor? 

JONATHAN: Yep! 

REDGE: That! Is!

JONATHAN: Uh oh…

REDGE: Sooooooooooooooo…..

EARL: What’s happening? 

JONATHAN: I think he’s overheating…

REDGE: ooooooooooo….

JONATHAN: He’s just a little excited…it’ll pass.

REDGE: SO SO SO COOL! 

JONATHAN: And he’s back! 

REDGE: Tell us more immediately! How did this amazing cookie come to be?

JONATHAN: I’m so glad you asked! Makoto served fortune cookies at the Japanese Tea Garden. He made them by hand using this - 

(Magical flourish)

Iron mold called a kata. Thank you, Magical Recipe Book, for showing my friends! 

(A ding!)

REDGE: Earl, look! His initials! 

JONATHAN: Good catch, Redge! Makoto used an iron mold with his initials on it. M.H. 

EARL: I do that too! Well, ain’t that something. 

JONATHAN: Makoto’s version of the fortune cookie is believed to be based on a “fortune cracker”, or a Japanese cracker called the tsujiura senbei. It was popular in Kyoto in the 19th century. These crackers were sold at shrines and temples as souvenirs and always contained a small paper fortune inside. At first, Makoto flavored his fortune cookies with miso, just like the fortune crackers in Japan.

EARL: Hmm, miso, you say? Meaning they were a tad savory rather than very sweet? That sounds delicious too! 

JONATHAN: Miso is made by fermenting soybeans. It’s salty and umami, which is a savory flavor. You might have had it as miso soup at a Japanese restaurant. But it can also be sweetened with sugar. 

REDGE: That sounds like a real treat for tea time!  

JONATHAN: The cookies became so popular that he asked his good friend and baker, Suyeichi Okamura, to help him because it took too long to make each cookie by hand! Suyeichi had an idea. Why not switch the flavor from miso to vanilla and sugar to appeal to white Americans? This is the version we know today. 

REDGE: I feel like I can smell the vanilla from the pages of the book! 

JONATHAN: The bakery started making fortune cookies for Makoto, and they would sell out every day! Japanese Americans ran Chinese restaurants during this time period because sushi wasn’t popular back then. They served fortune cookies at the end of every meal. Patrons loved this special treat!

EARL: I can see why. 

JONATHAN: To meet the demand, Makoto’s friend, Suyeichi, created a machine that made many fortune cookies at a time. It worked like a mini crêpe maker with many arms. Workers would peel off the piping-hot cookies, slip the fortunes inside while the cookies were still soft, and fold them into their unique shape.  

REDGE: So clever! Going from being made entirely by hand to working with the fortune cookie-making machine!

JONATHAN: That’s right! 

REDGE: The fortune I would write is…”A grand adventure awaits you!”

JONATHAN: Good one! 

EARL: Mine would say…”A tranquil pond will be your refuge!”

REDGE: Perfect.

So…what happened next? 

JONATHAN: Unfortunately, World War II changed things for Japanese-American families like Makoto’s and his baker friend, Suyeichi.

REDGE: Oh no! 

JONATHAN: On December 7, 1941, the government of Japan declared war on the United States by attacking a place called Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Many Americans unfairly blamed all Japanese people, including Japanese Americans, for the attack. 

EARL: I say, that IS terribly unfair. 

JONATHAN: The United States government passed a law that required Japanese Americans to leave their homes and live in concentration camps; locations where they were confined and their rights were taken away. When this happened, Chinese American bakers took over the fortune cookie business. 

After the war was over, families faced many hardships. Makoto’s family wasn’t allowed to go back to their home in the tea garden. 

EARL: But…he was the reason the garden existed in the first place! 

JONATHAN: The story of who created the fortune cookie was lost, as the cookie became more popular and spread to new cities, including Los Angeles. And all without the say of the cookie’s first creators.

REDGE: Jonathan! We can’t let this happen! Magical Recipe Book! Please. Write this down! Use your shining, magical, golden writing, smell-o-vision, and ability to grow trees! This must be remembered! 

(A magical swirling sound) 

REDGE: Oh! It…listened? 

JONATHAN: Look! A drawing of a courtroom! 

EARL: A courtroom? 

REDGE: Oh so it DIDN’T listen. UGH. All hope is lost! 

JONATHAN: No, Redge! This is the next part of the story! In 1983, there was a mock trial. Los Angeles and San Francisco both claimed that the fortune cookie was invented in their city. Someone from a Los Angeles bakery pulled out a kata to use as proof! But…

EARL: The initials! 

REDGE: THE INITIALS! 

JONATHAN: Makoto Hagiwara’s initials were on the kata! His mold had disappeared from San Francisco and ended up in Los Angeles. Since Japanese Americans were only allowed to take what they could carry to the concentration camps, many of their belongings were stolen or lost during the events of World War II. That included Suyeichi’s bakery equipment, like the fortune cookie machine and -

REDGE: The kata! 

EARL: So, the real story has been restored! 

JONATHAN: That’s right! The story of the fortune cookie is a part of so many people’s lives and histories. And Makoto’s legacy, including his role in the creation of the fortune cookie and his stewardship of the historic Japanese Tea Garden, have been preserved.  

REDGE: Look, the recipe book! 

(Magical flourish sound)

That looks like a sign…decorated with leaping frogs!

JONATHAN: In 1974, an artist named Ruth Asawa -

REDGE: Another of our Hidden Heroes of History!

JONATHAN: Yes! She designed a bronze plaque featuring frogs as a tribute to the whole Hagiwara family. It is near the front gate of the Japanese Tea Garden and it reads, “To honor Makoto Hagiwara and his family who nurtured and shared this garden from 1895–1942.”

EARL: What a tribute! Thank you for sharing that rivet-ing story, Jonathan. 

(A ding! From the book)

Oh, and thank you to my magical recipe book, of course! Makoto’s story has got me thinking… Will you fellas stick around? I think I may be fixing to cook up something new for Forty Winks Tea House. 

REDGE: Will I ever! If you want to brainstorm…or…even more importantly…have someone to taste test the new recipes….I’m your hedgehog! 

EARL: That will be mighty helpful! 

JONATHAN: I’ll be here, enjoying the pond and the Pep-in-your-step Peppermint tea! 

EARL: Alright, let’s see…I’m thinking maybe we use a little sesame oil in our next cookie recipe…

REDGE: An inspired flavor! 

(A flourish from the book, and some calming pond sounds.)

A special thank you to Red Comet Press, the independent publisher behind Fortune Cookies for Everyone! by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage. This Smithsonian collaboration is an investigative adventure into the history of fortune cookies and the immigrant ingenuity baked inside them. Grownups, we’ll leave you with this fortune cookie wisdom: “A good book is in your child’s future.” You’ll find all the details and purchase links in our show notes.

JONATHAN CORMUR: Dorktales’ Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. This episode was written and produced by Molly Murphy and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studio Recordings. Reach out to us on Instagram or email us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com. Find links in the show notes or go to dorktalesstorytime.com. 

Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!

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