Frances Hashimoto

Frances Kazuko Hashimoto (August 26, 1943 – November 4, 2012) was an American businesswoman, schoolteacher, and social activist. She was a key figure and proponent of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood. She was the head of Mikawaya confectionery company since 1970, where Hashimoto, the inventor of mochi ice cream, also introduced the dessert to American consumers. 200px

Biography

Early life Hashimoto's parents, Koroku and Haru Hashimoto, owned the family-owned Mikawaya wagashi, a traditional Japanese confectionery which opened in 1910 in Los Angeles.

The Nisei Week Foundation's annually awarded community service award is now named in her honor.

Death Hashimoto died at her home in Pasadena, California, from lung cancer on Sunday, November 4, 2012, at the age of 69. She was survived by her husband, Joel Friedman, their sons, Bryan Koji and Ryan Koroku Hashimoto-Friedman, and her sister, Sachiko June Osugi.