Helen Kubo, 92, who also lives on the third floor, frequently joins them for the game, unless Kubo's daughter, Fran Nishimoto, who visits two or three times a week, comes to take her mother on a gambling outing to a nearby casino. Kubo moved into Nikkei Manor soon after it opened in 1998, with her husband, Frank, who died two months ago. She was born in the US but spent much of her childhood in Japan, where, she said, children were taught to take care of their elders. It was a time when sending elderly parents into either an assisted-living center or a nursing home was unheard of, she said.
"We were taught to look after the parents," Kubo said, while her daughter was visiting her studio apartment the other day. "We were taught to be good to our parents. But I like it here. Better than with family. It's more free."
She added, "We're all getting old together, anyway. We're lucky this place exists."
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