A Girl Who Never Dreamed Big

Nikoniko Home Care · 10th Anniversary

Ten years of caring, learning, and growing together. Looking ahead to the next decade.

Nikoniko Home Care is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and I am deeply grateful to all our clients, their families, and the wonderful staff who have supported us and walked alongside us throughout

this journey. As we mark this milestone, I would like to revisit and share my vision as the founder, in my own words as I see things today.

At the bottom of this page, I have also kept my original “Founder’s Vision,” written ten years ago. That piece received a great deal of appreciation, along with a little criticism. Nevertheless, it reflected
exactly how I felt at the time. I hope you will take a moment to read it as well and discover what has changed—and what has remained the same—in me over the past decade.

The People I Met and the Lessons I Learned

Thanks to everyone around me, I believe I have grown a little over the past ten years.

During our first decade, my days were spent tirelessly putting my skills and care philosophy into practice. I gathered like-minded people, entrusted them with work, and devoted myself wholeheartedly
to whatever needed to be done, one step at a time. 

Over the years, a total of 450 clients and more than 200 caregivers have been part of the Nikoniko community. Behind every client is a family, too. When I think about all the people connected through this community, I am truly grateful for how far Nikoniko has come—not simply as a home care service, but as a community where people connect, support one
another, and grow together.

There have been countless lessons along the way.How can we provide care that exceeds our clients’

expectations? How can we help each person realize their full potential? I have had the privilege of witnessing some truly moving moments, including seeing clients who once relied on wheelchairs regain the ability to walk. Yet, looking back, I realize something important.

Every one of these achievements has been made possible by the dedication and hard work of our caregivers on the front lines.

Many of the people who have joined Nikoniko are young Japanese people on working holiday visas, as well as Japanese individuals building their lives and careers here in Canada. What they share is a genuine
desire to care for others and to put themselves in another person’s shoes. Of course, compassion is not determined by nationality. Still, through working with so many Japanese staff members, I have repeatedly experienced the kindness that comes from putting others first and trying to understand how someone feels, even when those feelings are never expressed in words.

Many of our younger staff members who trained as nurses or caregivers in Japan brought with them a wealth of knowledge, practical skills, and tremendous energy. At the same time, healthcare and care
professionals in Japan can find themselves so overwhelmed by their daily responsibilities that they have little time to sit down and truly connect with each individual in their care. 

When these staff members experienced one-on-one care at Nikoniko and began asking themselves, “What does nursing truly mean?” and “What does it really mean to care for another person?”, I was moved beyond words.

I thought about how these young people would deepen their understanding of nursing and caregiving through their experiences here, and eventually spread their wings and venture out into the world again.
Wherever they go, they may make a meaningful difference in someone else’s life. The thought alone makes me feel that, as a founder, I could ask for nothing more.

From “I Hope I Can Die Feeling I Lived a Happy Life” to “I Am Happy Now”

In my original Founder’s Vision, written ten years ago, I shared something I once said to a university professor when I was a fourth-year student trying to decide what to do with my future.

“I would simply be happy if, when I die, I can feel that I lived a happy life.”

When I said this, my professor burst out laughing.

More than thirty years have passed since then. Looking back on those words today, I realize how different the life I imagined back then is from the life I am living now. At the time, I think I believed, at least to some

extent, in the idea of shukumei—a predetermined destiny. I imagined life as following a path already laid out for me, and I thought that if I could look back at the end and say, “I lived a happy life,” that would be enough.

Today, however, I see things a little differently. Over the past ten years, I have been fortunate enough to do work that I truly love. I have also learned firsthand that none of what I have accomplished could ever have been achieved through my own efforts alone. I have had colleagues who supported me, clients who placed their trust in us, and countless opportunities to meet people who have enriched my life. Looking back, I realize that I have not simply followed a path laid out before me. I have made my own choices, taken risks, and sometimes struggled with uncertainty, all while carving out my own way forward.

I am grateful to every person I have met along this journey. I am also grateful for the extraordinary coincidences and encounters that have shaped my life, as well as for the unseen forces of the
universe that seem to have guided me in ways I cannot fully explain. Most importantly, I no longer simply hope that one day, at the end of my life, I will be able to say I was happy.

I am already happy now.

Perhaps this is the greatest difference between who I was ten years ago and who I am today—even though, as my title suggests, I was once A Girl Who Never Dreamed Big

The Next Ten Years: A New Focus on Education

As Nikoniko Home Care has matured, I have gradually been able to entrust more of our day-to-day operations to capable and talented colleagues. Thanks to them, I now have the time to pause and reflect
on the journey so far. When I began thinking about the next ten years, one word naturally came to mind: education.

Over the past decade, I have learned so much from the people around me. I have also tried to share my own philosophy of nursing and caregiving—not only through words, but through the way I approach my work every day. Going forward, I hope to gradually step back from the front lines of daily operations and spend more time engaging with and mentoring our newer staff members, exploring together what nursing and caregiving truly mean. What is care? What does it mean to support another human being? What does the person in front of us truly need?

By exploring these questions together, I want to help each staff member develop their own philosophy of nursing and caregiving, grounded in their experiences, values, and reflections. And even if the people who learn and grow at Nikoniko eventually spread their wings and move on to other places, I hope they will carry what they have learned with them and become people who make a positive difference in the lives of the patients and clients they encounter. That is what I want to dedicate myself to in the years ahead.

A founder’s vision, I have come to realize, evolves with time and experience.

There were periods when I was so caught up in the demands of work that I barely had the energy to smile. Perhaps that is why I now understand the importance of caring for myself, too. I want to create opportunities for the next generation to learn about nursing and caregiving, reflect on their meaning, and put their understanding into practice.

Nikoniko Home Care: A Social Movement

I have never thought of Nikoniko Home Care as simply a home care company.

I see Nikoniko Home Care as a social movement—one that seeks to make our society brighter and more compassionate through the care we provide to everyone.

The dedication of each caregiver helps improve the physical and emotional well-being of our clients. When a client feels better and smiles again, their family feels reassured, too. That warmth can then spread to the people around them. I believe that these small, everyday acts of care, multiplied over time, can help build a society filled with kindness, compassion, and love.

When I think about it this way, I feel increasingly excited about what the next ten years may bring.

To everyone who has supported Nikoniko Home Care over the years, thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to my fellow companions and colleagues who have stood beside me and shared this journey, I
offer my deepest gratitude.

As we enter our next decade, I look forward to continuing to grow Nikoniko together with the next generation, while also allowing myself to enjoy the journey along the way. I hope you will continue to believe in Nikoniko Home Care, look forward to what lies ahead, and watch over us with warmth and encouragement.

The next ten years, true to the spirit of Nikoniko:

Passing the spirit of compassion on to the next generation.

-written in fall 2026