By David Hosley

(This story is made possible through a grant from AARP)

When the faces of Miyoko Kubota and Alyce Tabuchi popped up on the big screen between innings of a major league baseball game in Sacramento, the 92 and 95- year-olds were already ahead of the competition in living long and meaningful lives. Also on camera were two of their elder support champions, Jo Ann and Jim Tabuchi, Miyoko’s daughter and Alyce’s son respectively.

The A’s game was just one of the ways the two stay active and involved in Elk Grove, California. They are neighbors, with Alyce living in a one bedroom, one bath mother-in-law unit downstairs from Jim and Jo Ann and one of her grandsons, and Miyoko in her residence three blocks away.

“We always picked our homes with the understanding we’d take care of our parents,” says Jim, a former tech executive whose most recent community project is preservation of the last remaining building at the Stockton fairgrounds where the area’s residents of Japanese heritage were assembled before being taken to concentration camps in 1942.

Coming together across the divide

Miyoko and Alyce are often in each other’s company now but grew up an ocean apart.

Alyce was born in the Sierra Nevada foothills outside of Newcastle, which had a small Japanese section of town. Her family later moved to Marysville before being incarcerated in 1942 in a concentration camp near Tule Lake in California’s far north. When released, her father Hatsunobu Nakao brought his family to Walnut Grove, where they lived in the back of a pool hall owned by a relative. They moved to two other places in the Delta. Alyce would graduate from  Heald Business College in Sacramento before being hired by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Friends introduced Alyce to George Tabuchi at a dance, and they were married in 1954.

Romance at sea leads to Japanese American family

Miyoko was born into a musical family in Japan with her grandparents both professional folk musicians. Her grandfather Hirokichi Hirohashi was famous under his stage name of Naramaru Yoshida. As moving pictures developed, he was later in a Japanese talkie titled Akagaki Genzo in a singing role.

With that family background, it isn’t a surprise that Miyoko became a singer, too. The 19 year old met 26 year old American Takashi “Tak”Kubota on a ship going to Hawaii and then the mainland. After staying in touch for several years, the pair sought a future together and were married in Kobe in 1955. 

Tides of time start turning

Now both widows, Alyce and Miyoko are ahead of national data for surviving spouses. A study published in 2023 found that U.S. men die, on average, six years prior to their wives passing. Lead author Brandon Yan, a UC San Francisco physician, notes the gap is widening over time.

The trends in Asian American parents living with their adult children, and even grandchildren, is also receiving research attention. Census data reported in 2021 indicates 24% of Asian Americans live in multigenerational homes, as the Tabuchi’s do. By comparison, 13% of Caucasians live in a home with two or more generations.

Something special about supportive living

A 2024 University of Florida Health article, Cultural Perspectives On Aging, addresses the positive impacts on elders in multigenerational houses. “These homes benefit from increased emotional support, shared expenses, and a more even distribution of caregiving responsibilities.” The research further concludes that elders residing in such homes tend to be included in family decisions and religious ceremonies while being treated with courtesy in everyday interactions, including conversation and comfort.

“I don’t feel like I’m 93,” offers Miyoko, who turns that old next month. “I feel like a 50 year old!” Her daughter Jo Ann makes most of the meals for her mother, whom she usually sees two or three times a day. “It’s wonderful” adds Miyoko. “Before, I didn’t want to move, but it’s good to live close by Jim and Jo Ann.” Alyce has a similar assessment. “I don’t feel old. I can’t believe I’m 95.” And about living in her one bedroom, one bath unit: “I love it here. I hope they do, too.”

The website WorldLifeExpectancy.com lists Asian Americans as the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. Life expectancy for an Asian American living is California is a little over 86 years. Asian Americans also do well when measuring education levels and salaries, both of which can have a positive impact on lifetime health.

Why Asian Americans live longer

Beyond statistics, it may be that philosophy of life plays a role in how Asian Americans approach aging. Colorado State University’s Center for Healthy Aging credits Asian religious teachings brought by immigrants to America. “Confucian values promote a positive view of aging, which encourages younger generations to treat older adults with respect, obedience and care.” The article, titled Aging Around The World, notes a contrast: “Western cultural approaches to aging include more value to young adults than older.”

Jim Tabuchi says he and his spouse Jo Ann have been guided by a Japanese phrase—Enoyo Suru—which can be described as a social norm. It means, he told AsAmNews, to keep oneself from imposing or demanding too much of another human. Jim knows it’s important that his mother and mother-in-law have their own spaces and interests, while also being safe and feeling respected. “They know we’re always there for them” he says. “Always there.”

By age, Japanese Americans are the oldest ethnic group in America, according to Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia. Twenty one and a half per cent of Japanese Americans are 65 or older. The Stanford Geriatric Education Center finds that the largest populations of Japanese American live in California, Hawaii, Washington and New York. In a number of ways, Miyoko Kubota and Alyce Tabuchi are setting the pace for living a long life, among family and friends in California’s heartland.

The women’s now senior citizen offspring have been having their own conversations recently about getting older. “Seeing them as they age,” says Jo Ann Tabuchi, “helps us prepare for whatever happens in the future. We already feel that this home is too big for us.”

Jim Tabuchi adds that one of their sons has been living in the Midwest but on a recent visit said he wants to return with his partner and buy a one-story home in the area. Asked by his Dad why a single story, the response came back: “So you can live with us.”

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