The story
Mikawaya was founded as a small, traditional Japanese wagashi confectionery store in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles in 1910. In 1942, The owners of the family-owned business, husband and wife Koroku and Haru Hashimoto, were forced to close their business with the outbreak of World War II. Koroku and Haru Hashimoto were interned and sent to the Poston War Relocation Center in Poston, Arizona. They returned to Los Angeles following their release and the end of the war. The Hashimotos reopened Mikawaya at 244 E. First Street in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood on December 23, 1945.
Frances Hashimoto became CEO of Mikawaya in 1970 when she was 27 years old. Her father had recently died and her mother asked her to join the family-run confectionery business. Hashimoto, who was working as an elementary school teacher at the time, considered her decision for six months before leaving teaching and joining Mikawaya.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mikawaya, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4