Noboru Takasaki

Services will be held on August 10th at 10am at the Buddhist Church of Parlier, with graveside burial being held on August 12th at 10am at the Reedley Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the Buddhist Church of Parlier, where he was a member for many years.

Nob, was born August 22, 1925 in El Monte, CA, the son of Shigetaro and Satomi Kawamoto Takasaki.

His wife, Fusako Kato Takasaki, whom he married in 1953, passed away December 13, 2018.

Nob had no children, but he is survived by one brother, Yasuo Takasaki (103) of Monterey, one sister, Yukiye Takayama (94) of Reedley, and numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and great great nieces and nephews. 7 brothers and sisters are deceased: Hanako Takasaki, Chisako (Betty) Matoba, George Takasaki, Mitsuye Mori, Nobuo Takasaki, Masao Takasaki, and Toshiyuki Takasaki. Nob was a 1944 graduate of High School while interned at Poston, AZ.

Once he came to the valley after Poston, the family did anything they could do to survive. Working at a wine plant, sexing chickens, harvesting vegetables and working on the ranch with his brother, George. He was able to save up some money and buy his first ranch in Reedley. He then bought his forever home in Parlier in 1973. He enjoyed bowling for many years in Selma, CA. He would go fishing as often as he could when he got off work. He loved deep sea fishing many times a year, leaving from San Diego and fishing in Mexico with his best friends Tom Yamanaka and John Kashiki. Nob enjoyed making his own tsukemono, seaweed, umeboshi, dried persimmons and harvesting bamboo from his secret spot.

What made him special to the family was the opening of his home to anyone who came for Mochitsuki, the celebration of good fortune and symbolizing gratitude for the new year. Mochitsuki is the making of rice cakes, called mochi. Men and the older kids would steam/cook sweet rice on an old iron stove. After steaming the rice, we would grind the rice in a meat grinder(they used to use wooden mallets) and the women and young children would mold them in to the rice cakes, which were stacked on grape trays. Nothing was better than toasting the fresh mochi on the barrel that boiled the water to help steam the rice. After making the mochi, the family would eat a buffet of wonderful food that the families would bring to share with everyone. After eating, we would split up the mochi for each of the families.