In 2012, several short, targeted interviews were conducted as part of the JCCC Heritage department’s “Nostalgia Night” event series to honour Nipponia Home and Momiji Health Care society. Tom Takashima's interview was conducted on May 2, 2012 by Lisa Uyeda.
Related records:
A general interview with Tom Takashima is accessioned under 2010.011. Other interviews regarding Nipponia Home are 2012.034 and 2012.145.
Tom Takashima was born in 1922 in Vancouver, BC, into a large Christian family of little means. His father was a cook before losing his jobs during the Great Depression. Tom’s childhood was characterized by poverty. Their family at one point was constantly behind rents and evicted multiple times. As children, Tom and his other five siblings worked at fruit farms in the summer, and multiple other part-time jobs throughout the year to support their family. Thanks to these contributions, Tom’s family was able to purchase a small house, which was later confiscated by the government and sold without Tom’s family’s consent during the wartime. The loss of this first stable home, followed by displacement, internment, and the intensified everyday racism in Canadian society during wartime and after, were traumatic events that not only undermined Tom’s trust in the government and the white population, but also challenged his religious faith. These experiences, however, also informed Tom’s commitment to JCCC’s mission of creating a space for getting together and honoring Japanese heritage, as well as building cultural awareness and mutual understanding in the larger Canadian society. Other than JCCC, Tom was also a board member of Nipponia Home, the first seniors home dedicated to Japanese Canadians, particularly issei and their specific social, cultural needs. Tom’s advocate for Nipponia Home was based on his observation of the growing lifestyle difference between issei and nisei, difficulties in maintaining the traditional multigenerational living arrangement in postwar Canada, and the danger of isolation and loneliness among older Japanese Canadians, to which Tom believed Nipponia Home was a solution.