Squishy, Powdery and Oh-So-Sweet: Japanese Pastries In Chinatown Hit The Mark

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One popular stop in Fresno’s Chinatown is Kogetsu-Do, a Japanese shop with a long history over on F Street. Lynn Ikeda-Yada owns the shop, whose name means “lake moon,” and she’s the third generation to do so. Her grandparents migrated to Chinatown from Hiroshima, Japan. There’s even a blown-up photo on the wall of her grandparents and uncle in the same space Ikeda-Yada’s shop occupies today. “My grandparents started it in 1915,” says Ikeda-Yada. “That picture was taken in 1920 and they had two sons: Roy, who’s the little boy there, and my dad, Mas.” Today, Ikeda-Yada runs Kogetsu-Do almost single handedly, with a little help from her daughter. She sells ice cream and gifts, but the star of the show is a display case full of sweets: Traditional Japanese pastries called manju and mochi. “These two are the whole beans, this is the red bean smooth, the mochi has rice flour on the outside,” explains Ikeda-Yada, pointing to wooden shelves of pink, green, white and purple pastries, each
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