Sophiya Ichida Sweet

Sophiya Ichida Sweet is a Japanese American author and illustrator from Los Angeles. Her children's books Japanese ABC's and Together Again have young fans around the world. Sophiya recently graduated from University of California, Berkeley with an English degree. Sophiya Sweet also composes and produces music, creating songs about Obon festivals and her favorite foods. In her free time, Sophiya enjoys visiting bakeries in Little Tokyo, walking through the Giant Robot Gallery on Sawtelle, and seeing new exhibits at JANM.

Updated June 2021

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Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest VIII

Mochi Wishes

  • Por Sophiya Ichida Sweet
  • 21 Jun 2021
On the day of the Tanabata Festival, the summer sun cast rays of golden light onto the streets of Little Tokyo. The sizzling smell of yakisoba cooking in stalls around the corner taunted Yuki Clearwater. At fifteen years old, Yuki felt a bit too old for the festivities—or at least that is what she told herself. She knew how important the Tanabata Festival was to her family’s shop Usagi Mochi, which sat on East First Street for generations. The amount of customers in the shop had slowed to a trickle in recent years and the wrinkles on her father’s forehead grew more numerous…

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