To women like 94-year-old Mary Kakinami and 89-year-old Fumiye Mukai, the Thursday morning arts and crafts class at the Yu-Ai Kai Senior Center in Japantown is the place to be.

They've got it on their weekly schedules; Mukai even gets up before dawn so she can catch the bus from her home in Gilroy to get to San Jose, where she meets up with two sisters-in-law, also in the class.

There, on the third floor of the center, they sit at tables with two dozen other seniors, mostly Japanese-American women, laughing, talking and making crafts projects. Even in a time where big-box retailers offer an endless number of manufactured goods, these ladies are painstakingly creating something by hand.

On a recent Thursday, Naomi Oda, their instructor, had them embroidering ribbons on T-shirts. Participants also have made colorful slippers, book covers, pencil holders, purses, aprons, dolls and drink coasters, among other projects.

Fumiye Mukai works on a project during the sewing class at Yu-Ai Kai senior center in San Jose's Japantown.


Mary Kakinami, left, and Masumi Mukai, right, show that it's as much about socializing as it is about sewing.

(Pauline Lubens / Mercury News)

Oda said the morning class is so popular that there's a waiting list to join.

Kakinami — who says her secret to longevity is plenty of fruits and getting exercise around the house — loves the class and the companionship it offers.

"I try to keep up with all the activity, like sewing, knitting and crocheting," says the petite great-grandmother, who is dropped off at the center by a son and then picked up in the afternoon by her granddaughter.

Class projects require fabric, thread, buttons and other items, all of which are donated to the center. The women use bits and pieces of fabric that others might throw away to make something special for themselves or for a fundraiser for the center.

"They're from an older generation, a time when you were careful with everything you had," says Debbie Saito, the center's fund development manager. "Now, people are more frivolous."

But these women put everything to good use.

"They never throw anything away," says Sophie Horiuchi-Forrester, the center's executive director. "They're careful with how they use their materials." The Japanese have a word for it: setsuyaku. It means economy, or saving.

Horiuchi-Forrester smiles as she watches the women working alongside their friends, "just talking about nothing, just yapping," as one longtime class member put it. "It means so much for them. It's a highlight of the week, especially for those on limited incomes."

Class members don't need big pieces of fabric to work with, says Saito. But they very much could use some new equipment. The center's current three sewing machines are older discontinued models that often break down, and new ones would make working on projects much quicker and easier.

The center's directors have their eyes on four new heavy-duty sewing machines ($595 each) and a serger ($495). Donations from Wish Book readers in increments of $25 will help make the purchase.