Fortune Cookies Exposed: Turns Out, They’re Japanese

I’ve always considered fortune cookies to be a prime example of Chinese-American entrepreneurship, developed by early 20th century immigrants to draw Americans into chop suey houses in the San Francisco area. Or so went popular history. Now a fascinating New York Times article has blown the fortune cookie’s cover: A Japanese graduate student has traced the tradition to several family bakeries outside Kyoto, Japan, where they have been tucking paper fortunes into crimped brown wafers since the 1870s.

So how did fortune cookies become popularized as a Chinese-American tradition? Research points to the World War II-era internment of Japanese Americans on the West Coast. When Japanese fortune cookie manufacturers in California abandoned their businesses, Chinese-American restaurateurs picked up the reins and a brilliant marketing scheme was born. Times readers are posting comments at a furious clip (530 and counting) on memorable fortunes they’ve found in cookies, including “Your face is like a welcome mat” and “Never trust a used car salesman who is out of breath.”

One of my own memorable fortunes, opened at a bridal shower when I was in my early 20s, read simply, “Smile when you are ready.”

Photo by C.P. Storm via Flickr (Creative Commons).

©2026 World Hum, All Rights Reserved