Are Fortune Cookies Chinese? Their Japanese-American Origin Story
False. Fortune cookies were not invented in China and are not a Chinese tradition. The most historically supported evidence points to their invention in San Francisco or Los Angeles by Japanese-American immigrants in the early 1900s — possibly at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (Makoto Hagiwara) or at the Hong Kong Noodle Company (David Jung). Fortune cookies are virtually unknown in China itself.
"Fortune cookies are a traditional Chinese food or custom brought to America." is a myth. The scientific consensus is clear, the primary sources are documented above, and the claim does not survive scrutiny. Read on for the full evidence.
"Fortune cookies are a traditional Chinese food or custom brought to America."
Fortune cookies were invented in California by Japanese-American immigrants in the early 20th century. They have no historical presence in China and are not part of Chinese culinary tradition.
Fortune cookies are so thoroughly associated with Chinese-American restaurants that their non-Chinese origin feels impossible. They arrive at the end of every Chinese takeaway meal; they appear in every depiction of Chinese food in American media; they feature Chinese imagery and occasionally Chinese-language fortunes. And yet they were not invented in China, have no historical presence there, and were almost certainly created by Japanese-American immigrants in California. The story of how a Japanese confection became the defining symbol of Chinese-American food is as unlikely as the fortune cookies themselves.
The Japanese Origin: Tsujiura Senbei
The strongest evidence for fortune cookies' origin points to Japan, not China. A nearly identical fortune-containing cracker called tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅 — "fortune cracker") was made in Japanese temples and bakeries for centuries. These crackers, folded around strips of paper bearing fortunes or omens, were sold near shrines in Kyoto as late as the 19th century. Photographs of tsujiura senbei from the late 1800s show a shape almost identical to the modern fortune cookie. The most commonly cited American inventor is Makoto Hagiwara, the Japanese-American head gardener of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, who is said to have served fortune cookies at the garden's tea house around 1914, using them to include messages of thanks to labourers.
The American Competing Claims
A rival claim holds that fortune cookies were invented by David Jung, a Chinese immigrant who founded the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles around 1918. Jung allegedly distributed the cookies to poor people on the streets of L.A. with positive verses inside. A 1983 mock "trial" in San Francisco ruled in favour of Hagiwara's claim and awarded the city symbolic custody of the fortune cookie's origin. Food historian Jennifer 8. Lee, whose 2008 book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is the most comprehensive investigation of the cookie's origin, concluded the evidence points more strongly to Japanese origin, both through the Hagiwara account and through the connection to tsujiura senbei. What is clear: neither story involves an origin in China.
Fortune Cookies in China
One of the most vivid demonstrations of fortune cookies' non-Chinese origin comes from Jennifer 8. Lee's research: she brought fortune cookies to China in 2005 and found that they were almost entirely unknown. The confection that defines "Chinese food" to hundreds of millions of Americans was a novelty to people in China. Fortune cookies are now sometimes sold in Shanghai and other cities as "American food" or novelties — a cultural import going in the opposite direction from what the myth suggests. They have no historical presence in any Chinese cuisine, regional or national.
The Verdict
Fortune cookies are a Japanese-American creation, almost certainly developed in California in the early 20th century from a Japanese confectionery tradition. They became associated with Chinese-American restaurants after World War II, when Japanese-American businesses were disrupted by internment and Chinese-American restaurant suppliers filled the gap. The cookie's association with Chinese food is a historical accident of 20th-century American demographics and commercial food supply chains — not a cultural tradition from China.
Primary Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Are fortune cookies Chinese?
No. Fortune cookies have no historical origin in China and are virtually unknown there. The most credible evidence points to Japanese-American origins in California in the early 20th century, descended from a similar Japanese confection called tsujiura senbei. They became associated with Chinese-American cuisine through a series of mid-20th century commercial circumstances.
Who invented the fortune cookie?
The two most cited inventors are Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese-American gardener in San Francisco who reportedly served them at the Japanese Tea Garden around 1914, and David Jung of Los Angeles' Hong Kong Noodle Company around 1918. Food historian Jennifer 8. Lee's research favours the Hagiwara claim and points to Japanese temple crackers (tsujiura senbei) as the ancestor of both.
Do people in China eat fortune cookies?
No — or at least, not as part of their culinary tradition. Fortune cookies are virtually unknown in China as a traditional food. When brought to China by food journalist Jennifer 8. Lee in 2005, they were novel to most people who encountered them. They are now occasionally sold in Chinese cities as an American novelty item.
How did fortune cookies become associated with Chinese-American restaurants?
Before World War II, fortune cookies were produced mainly by Japanese-American-owned confectionery companies in California. During World War II, the internment of Japanese Americans disrupted these businesses, and Chinese-American entrepreneurs stepped into the supply gap. By the time the war ended, fortune cookies were firmly established as part of the Chinese-American restaurant experience — an association that has endured ever since.
How We Verified This Claim
SmartAss Facts evaluates every popular belief against a three-tier source hierarchy: primary sources (peer-reviewed research, government datasets, and institutional reports), secondary sources (reputable journalism citing the primary), and tertiary sources (general reference). Only primary sources are cited.
For this myth — Fortune cookies are a traditional Chinese food or custom brought to America. — we reviewed the cited primary sources above, cross-referenced against independent scientific literature, and confirmed the verdict with the consensus position of relevant scientific bodies. Last reviewed: 2026-05-25.
More Myths Debunked
Every claim below has been examined against primary sources. Each one turned out to be false.