The weekly activities at a retirement home here include bingo, shuffleboard and "ice cream social with shoulder massage." But also listed on the crowded schedule are Howa Kai (a Japanese Buddhist church service), rummi kub (a Japanese version of gin rummy played with ceramic tiles), shuji (calligraphy) and kokoro kai (a special program held three times a week and loosely translated as "a meeting of hearts and minds").
Nikkei Manor, where 46 Japanese-Americans are spending their old age, is one of a growing number of assisted-living facilities and nursing homes across the nation that cater to first- and second-generation elderly Americans. It is a fast-growing population that has begun to embrace the very American tradition of living the last years with peers, not family, a phenomenon driven by two-career families that have little time to care for their parents, increasing wealth for some immigrant populations, like the Japanese, and gradual acceptance of a lifestyle that was unheard-of a generation ago.
For many immigrants and their children, the move into nursing homes or assisted-living facilities -- which allow the elderly to live independently with some supervision and became popular with Americans beginning in the 1980s -- runs counter to deeply held beliefs about elders and family. For some, experts on elderly immigrants say, the decision to send a parent away is clouded with shame and ambivalence.
Still, places like Nikkei Manor -- where miso soup, soba noodles, red ginger and dark-roasted tea are staples of the daily lunch and dinner menus -- are sprouting up at a rapid pace, from Seattle to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, signaling a major shift in how immigrants in this country care for their elders. Assisted-living facilities are becoming especially popular with Asian immigrants, who, along with Pacific Islanders, made up 2.2 percent of the country's 65-and-older population in 2000, or about 800,000 out of 35 million, according to census figures. By 2010, the number is expected to rise to 1.4 million.
Marie Fujii, 82, moved into Nikkei Manor three years ago, after a year at a mostly Jewish facility near Seattle, where she felt uncomfortable. Her two daughters and son agonized for months over whether she could live with one of them. In the end, the children decided it would not work because of her health care needs and their busy work schedules, said Joy Caldwell, one of her daughters.
"The family got together and discussed it," said Caldwell, who was working full time as a sales assistant for a financial services company here as her mother's health was deteriorating. "We said, `OK, we'll try, and if it doesn't work out, we'll take it from there.' But we have been thrilled."
Immigrant groups that have been here longer, like the Japanese, are more likely to accept living in an assisted-living facility, according to Namkee Choi, a gerontologist and professor of social work at the University of Texas, who specializes in elderly immigrants.
"The family norms are changing," Choi said. "The elders are thinking, `We should enjoy our lives,' and many would rather spend it with peers. It doesn't mean they don't want to see their families, but I would call it independence with lots of support from children. And it's going to be more this way in the future."
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