Juliana Yamada

J-Sei Home was a 14-bed residential care facility for the elderly geared toward Japanese Americans in Hayward, California.

The residents ate Japanese meals, walked through the Japanese garden, watched Japanese TV programs, celebrated Japanese holidays and spoke Japanese with the staff. Residents were embraced by the tight-knit community of caregivers and staff, whether they lived there for seven years or nine months.

In October 2024, J-Sei Home announced that it was closing because of financial instability. Families had five months to find new facilities for their loved ones. By the end of January, J-Sei Home was empty.

I spent 13 months documenting life at J-Sei Home. 

Grace Aikawa was born in 1928 in San José, California, but grew up more than 100 miles north in the town of Loomis, a commercial and cultural center for Japanese families.

When Executive Order 9066 was signed during World War II, Aikawa and her family were forcibly relocated, and she spent her high school years at the Granada War Relocation Center, commonly known as Camp Amache, in eastern Colorado. Aikawa and her husband raised four children in the Oakland hills, where she lived until moving to J-Sei Home in March 2024.

Aikawa quickly made friends at J-Sei Home and settled into her activities and habits. She and her next-door neighbor Emiko Roaden, 93, took walks in the yard together after each meal, feeding the stray cats kibble and scraps of meat or fish. Aikawa spent days working on puzzles or crocheting in front of the TV.

She spent most evenings with fellow resident Sawako Issacs, watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune while the rest of the house got ready for bed. Aikawa’s daughter, Kim Aikawa-Olin, said her mom loved living in the community and was fortunate to move into the same new facility as Roaden — once again as next-door neighbors.

Kazue Granich was J-Sei Home’s oldest resident and, possibly, the shortest at just shy of 5 feet tall. She lived there for over seven years.

Born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, Granich obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawaii before earning a master’s degree at Columbia University. She and her husband, Michael, had three children and moved to the Bay Area in the early 1950s.

Granich was a special education teacher for the majority of her career and loved teaching and learning new arts and crafts. She was an avid swimmer at the Berkeley YMCA.

While at J-Sei Home, Granich was normally in her designated recliner in the living room, watching the other residents or resting. In the past few years, she has become less conversational. However, she would become instantly animated during visits with her children.

While Granich isn’t a woman of many words, she was J-Sei Home’s loudest karaoke singer. Once or twice a week, caregiver Fumi Tsuchiya would lead the residents in karaoke through the J-Sei songbook. Granich would belt the lyrics to “You are My Sunshine” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Ruth Fukuchi was 8 when her family was incarcerated at the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona during World War II. Fukuchi earned a degree in microbiology from UC Berkeley, becoming a successful microbiologist in Berkeley and Richmond.

She and her husband, Tak, raised two children, Cathy Fukuchi-Wong and Matt Fukuchi. Fukuchi developed vascular dementia in her later years and eventually needed more care than her family could offer.

J-Sei Home was an obvious choice for Fukuchi’s children, as their family has been involved with the organization for generations. Fukuchi moved to J-Sei Home in 2021 and remained there until her death on Dec. 29, 2024.

The caregivers and staff compassionately helped Fukuchi with her basic needs. Fukuchi-Wong said the care meant everything to their family. “I don’t think you can get this sort of family feeling anywhere else.”