The room at 1964 W. 162nd St. holds eight people for each osechi session this year. On Saturday, November 7, chef Mike Inouye starts a two-Saturday O-Sechi Ryori workshop for the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. He'll teach the traditional dishes that go into a New Year box, and the class runs from 10 a.m. to noon. The second session is November 14. The Rafu Shimpo events listing caps attendance at eight per workshop and names the venue Nisei Veterans Memorial Hall, which shares the GVJCI address.
Compare that with a mochi shop. In 2024 the Los Angeles Times reported that Sakura-ya, the Fujita family's shop on Western Avenue, could make about 1,000 pieces on its busiest days and almost always sold out. One busy shop day produces about a thousand pieces of mochi. The class that teaches you to cook the box has eight seats a session, and its first Saturday comes nearly eight weeks before any New Year pickup.
The First Deadline Is Two Days Away
This post goes up on Thursday, November 5, which leaves two days before the first session. On the GVJCI registration form, the in-person option covering both Saturdays costs $90. The form recently showed four spaces left, and it lists no closing date. With so few seats, the class could fill before any formal cutoff.
The timing works. If you learn the dishes in mid-November, you have about six weeks to practice before December 31, and you'll know which parts of the box you'll cook at home and which you'd rather buy. That choice sets the rest of the calendar, because anything you won't cook becomes a December pre-order.
How the Next Eight Weeks Line Up
| Date | What | Where | How firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7 and Sat., Nov. 14 | O-Sechi Ryori workshop with chef Mike Inouye, 10 a.m. to noon | GVJCI, 1964 W. 162nd St. | Listed by GVJCI and Rafu Shimpo; capped at eight per workshop |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Mochitsuki | Gardena Buddhist Church Japanese Language School, 1517 W. 166th St. | On the school's calendar; no time listed |
| Dec. 28 | Osechi pre-order cutoff | Tokyo Central, store chosen at checkout | Posted on the chain's osechi page, which shows no year |
| Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 | Osechi pickup | Tokyo Central | Same page; confirm before ordering |
Read down the table and the dates get firmer at the top and looser at the bottom. The November class is fully confirmed and almost full. The December dates are posted, but each one has a detail still missing.
December 12 at the Language School
The Gardena Buddhist Church Japanese Language School calendar lists a mochitsuki for Saturday, December 12, 2026. The school is at 1517 W. 166th St. It's a school calendar entry, with a date and no start time. If you're not a school family and want to see the pounding or help with it, call the church before you plan your Saturday around it.
The mochitsuki calendar in Gardena isn't fixed to one date. During the 2025–26 school year, the GVJCI Japanese Language School says its parent group held a mochitsuki at the school's New Year celebration in January. So the city has held pounding events both before and after New Year's Day, depending on the organization. The church's December 12 date is the only one on a calendar for this season so far.
The Western Avenue Mochi Run
If you're buying mochi instead of pounding it, you'll end up on one short stretch of S. Western Avenue. The Los Angeles Times' August 2025 guide to Japanese food in Torrance and Gardena named two neighboring traditional mochi shops there, Chikara Mochi at 16108 S. Western Ave. and Sakura-ya.
Sakura-ya's busiest time of year is the reason to plan ahead. In a 2020 profile, the Rafu Shimpo described New Year as the traditional occasion for buying the shop's manju and its peak season, with work during the rush that could start at midnight. The shop's website lists New Year mochi and asks customers to call to reserve their favorites. The Oishii Desu Japanese bakery directory, updated in September 2026, lists the retail storefront as closed but doesn't give a date. The shop's own website still lists its hours and its New Year mochi. Neither source settles it, so phone the shop before you go. Even in a normal year, a shop that sells out on an ordinary busy day doesn't have mochi left for walk-ins on December 30.
For a mochi run that doesn't waste a trip, do it in this order:
- Call Sakura-ya in November and ask two things: whether it's open this season, and how New Year reservations work.
- Call Chikara Mochi at 16108 S. Western Ave. and ask whether it takes New Year orders and by what date.
- Write down any pickup dates you're given next to the December 12 mochitsuki and the Dec. 28 osechi cutoff, so all your December errands are on one calendar.
- If you want Western-style sweets for the same week, Nagomi Cake House at 15915 S. Western Ave. #D is a Japanese-style cake shop on the same corridor.
Buying the Box: Tokyo Central's Posted Dates
If you'd rather buy the osechi box than cook it, Gardena has two Tokyo Central stores: 1740 Artesia Blvd. and Tokyo Central & Main: Pacific at 1620 W. Redondo Beach Blvd. The chain's osechi page currently says to pre-order by December 28, with pickup from December 31 to January 1. When this post was written, the boxes were marked "Coming Soon" with no prices. The page shows no year, so check those dates again once products go live. On the chain's pickup page, you choose your store at checkout. Before you pay, make sure one of the Gardena stores is offered for osechi pickup.
December 28 is the last day to order. Placing the order once products appear on the page means the box is settled before Christmas.
Putting It on One Calendar
Here's how it fits together for a Gardena household planning a home-cooked or mixed New Year box:
- This week: Decide on the GVJCI workshop before Saturday, November 7. The $90 in-person option covers both Saturdays.
- Mid-November: Call Sakura-ya and Chikara Mochi about New Year orders.
- Early December: Check Tokyo Central's osechi page for prices and the updated cutoff, and order whatever you won't cook.
- Saturday, December 12: Go to the mochitsuki at 1517 W. 166th St. if the church confirms it's open to the public.
- December 31: Pick up the box and the mochi, and cook whatever the November class prepared you for.
Getting everything in this order starts with the first item. The workshop is the one step that can't be moved to later. The stores will have their pickup windows and the shops will make their mochi, but each workshop holds eight people, and those seats are booked first.
Holiday travel is also when Gardena homeowners spend weeks away from a property, whether that's a rental or a home left empty for the season. If you own a Gardena home and want someone dependable keeping track of it while you're at the New Year table, Jambi Property Management can help, starting with a free rental analysis.
