Kokoro Assisted Living

Reviews and listings

What families and listing sites say.

Reviews

• A Place for Mom4/5

  The staff are friendly. The studios we saw were ok. Some are brighter depending which direction it faces. It is noisier and darker if your room faces Bush street. The hallway is a little dark. The rooms are good size and clean with AC unit. I feel the menu has too much carbs and not suitable for people with diabetes. Unfortunately it seems the case in many assisted living places. I hope the food is at least low sodium but we didn't try to food.

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  Visitor

  Apr 29, 2026

• A Place for Mom4/5

  We toured Kokoro Assisted Living and will be moving our mom there. The studio apartment is ok size with functional bathroom. Hallway is on the dark side but the room has good lighting. Menu is more carbs than we would like for mom. There are not as many choices to pick from either. I am finding many assisted living do not have low carb, low sodium or with food for diabetes unfortunately. I can't really say too much until mom moves in and lives there. I understand there is no perfect place...and even if we can afford to keep mom at home. I only wish the staff and mom would work out a routine that works for everyone.

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  May H. · Visitor

  Apr 27, 2026

• A Place for Mom4/5

  Review for Kokoro Assisted Living

  The staff were welcoming. My friend is happy there right now. I would recommend them to others who are searching for a place for their loved one.

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  Family member

  Apr 10, 2026

  Verified
• CareScout5/5

  This is a Japanese assisted living community located in Japantown.

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  Dec 6, 2022

  Verified
• Caring.com5/5

  My friend is in Kokoro Assisted Living in Japantown. Overall, it's very good, but I think the only complaint, and it's a common one, is the food. They're working on improving things though, but right now, the food is not that great. The facility is fine, I have no complaints at all. The food is the one that is a work in progress. They provide activities. My friend doesn't take part in any, I think very occasionally a movie, but they do provide daily activities of various types. I haven't experienced them or even seen them. They put on a flier every week where they list all the activities and send them to my email. She's in a large room, like a little mini-studio with a bathroom. It has a small refrigerator and a microwave.

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  Family member

  Apr 27, 2022

• A Place for Mom2.5/5

  Not nearly as good as it could be

  The website says "around the clock staffing and security." That would be good if it were true but the fact is that there were two breakins in a period of two years and one resident got assaulted. Plus they are often short staffing and there is no management of the staff. We pray that nothing happens to our loved one at night. The staff are hard to reach and sometimes not even awake. The management has no idea or don't seem to care. It is sad. News about Kokoro that we should know about often does not get reported in a timely fashion, if we hear about it at all. We hear an earful of excuses, like there is not a full staff or someone was on vacation for two weeks or someone was sick. Well guess what? There are residents who need care. We hear about how medications are not properly administered and residents land in the hospital. Oversight is really lacking. Responsibility is not taken. The good reviews of this place are from people who are independent or probably not involved much in the care of their family member. We on the other hand have a lot of concerns.

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  Another M. · Family member

  Nov 11, 2019

• A Place for Mom1.5/5

  Leadership issues

  We have a family member here but a lot of our free time lately is spent looking for another place. We are just not getting the care or basic services we signed up for. There are a lot of issues that we have hoped would get sorted out but they have not and we feel like we have given this place a lot of chances. We don't trust some of the staff there. Some of them are excellent and really caring but others just don't show up or do a shabby job. The executive director can put on a good face but is unresponsive to our needs. We have to follow up quite a bit to get a reply or we get the runaround. We are finding that other families are experiencing the same thing. Some families are running out of money paying for private caregivers which they really shouldn't have to pay for if Kokoro was doing its job. We don't want to be in that position. While we are at it, Kokoro also seems to hide information. For example there were a few breakins over the last year. The executive staff kept it quiet until families started to ask about it. They say they have an "Open Door" policy but what good is it when the communications are so unclear or misleading? I am sorry that we are at this point since Kokoro seemed like it would be a good place. The families are nice and some of the staff work really hard. But there are staff who should have been let go a long time ago for putting residents at risk and they are still there! The same will probably be the case with the executive director no matter what complaints families raise, and they have. It is no wonder residents leave and staff resign left and right. We were told that there was a new hire recently but no one has seen this person. That's the normal way here, unfortunately. We have hoped Kokoro could bring in new leadership that is interested in the elderly and their needs. But there is no accountability which is really too bad especially since the victims are our loved ones.

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  San F. · Family member

  Aug 7, 2019

• Caring.com2/5

  The folks who live here and their families are super sweet. Prob is E.D. GETS AWAY WITH EVERYTHING. Has no boss. Been like this for years. Recently the ED who had been there for years retired. Hid in office and he pretty much only talked to ONE residents. Someone broke into Kokoro and assaulted a resident. Didn’t think it was important to tell families. People didn’t find out until it was ON KRON NEWS. You think they were happy??? The now E.D. was resident care director at the time. Family and staff folks who did not trust her then. Even didn’t matter. Was hired into the E.D. position late last year. So you think anything has changed??? Operates on the cheap. Runs the place with the least amount of staff and gives perks to henchies.. For longest time there was no nurse.. Now there is no social director! Awesome volunteers have left! They left FRUSTRATED! Families miss them. They cared. When you read this there is probably someone else who left! This is assisted living facility not a hotel or homeless shelter! If you do not trust this review, talk to family. Staff are SCARED but can tell you about management change and turnover. There is R.A. who is dangerous because she cuts corners and takes advantage. E.D. does nothing about it!!! Sleep on shift, boss people around, take advantage of old folks hey no problem because you are good to the ED!!! Staff know who this is. Families could name her also because everyone knows this is the E.D. pet! There are a few other henchies. They get the employee of month award along with everyone else. Sound messed up? Because it is. E.D. told staff to smile more because they need to fill the rooms. A lot of residents have left. But staff so tired and scared that she watching every move on the cameras. Its true that she thinks people are out to get her. Truth is she wont take responsibility. So she plays the blame game. Feel sorry for residents who don’t have families. Left for hours in the dining room, or in dirty diapers in rooms. FOR HOURS. Like said. No oversite. Nothing happens if you don’t do your job. No one gets fired here. Good staff just leave! Resident who need care can not do anything and lazy staff know how to lie. ED goes along wit it. It’s a SHAME. The staff who do care need to support each other. The residents dont deserve this.

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  Jul 31, 2019

• A Place for Mom2/5

  Our experience

  I have a family member here and we’re always worried about their care. The place seems short-staffed all the time whether it’s day or night. We are really not convinced that much thought or oversight is given to the staffing ratios or the care of the residents. Even if the bare minimum number of staff are showing up for work, how can they possibly be doing their jobs if they are sleeping through their shifts, or lounging around in residents rooms (unbeknownst to the residents who have dementia) or showing up with a scowl on their face? Kokoro claims they have an “open door” policy but who wants to bring things up when nothing good happens when you do? It’s all vague answers, empty apologies and excuses. We are running out of money paying for private caregivers which we have hired because we can’t count on the staff. We have tried working with the staff directly, talking with the director. Nothing is working. We have met some really nice people at Kokoro. The families there are lovely and some of the staff are fabulous. But as much as we'd like to keep our loved one there, we are are constantly thinking that we need to look for other options, A lot of staff have resigned lately, which is another troubling sign. We get it. Imagine witnessing your coworkers not doing their jobs and getting by while others have to pick up the slack and bear the boss’s wrath. Hopefully things will get better but probably not with this management since the current executive director has been there in some role for a long time. I have heard that concerns have been raised to the board of directors but they seem totally handsoff and let the director run the show. It’s hard to know how this place can be improved when no one who is in a position of power cares enough to do anything. Kokoro could have so much going for it if the leadership was stronger and more caring of the elderly. We wished we could write something more positive about it and tell people what an amazing facility it is. But we are really hard pressed right now to justify that it is worth the money.

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  Concern M. · Family member

  Jul 31, 2019

• A Place for Mom5/5

  Wonderful Assisted Living with emphasis on Japanese Culture

  Unique assisted living center where 90% of the residents are Japanese or of Japanese descent. Kokoro provides both a Western and Japanese menu for each meal, as well as many Japanese cultural activities. The staff are caring and hard working, and many can speak Japanese. The location right near Japantown SF is also ideal for the residents. This is an assisted living center rather than a nursing home so would not be a good fit for people with severe mobility problems or advanced dementia. Otherwise, it provides a wonderful setting and community, with an emphasis on Japanese culture.

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  Family member

  Mar 28, 2019

  Verified
• A Place for Mom1/5

  RUN!!!!

  the apartments are nice, but the staff is very lazy, what you can expect here is [Removed] errors, excessive falls with fractures, lazy staff that will ignore your loved one going so far as too yell at them for needing to go to the bathroom, not being sent to the hospital unless staff nurse is on duty if not they will have to wait sometimes for days before being sent out with major change of conditions. the director of resident care has no idea what she is doing, such as telling non medical staff to give glucose tabs when a resident is complaining of symptoms of hyper glycemia, stay away from this place if you care about your family at all. horrible horrible place, [Removed]and lazy. If I could rate them negative stars for quality of care I would.

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  Professional

  Oct 11, 2017

• A Place for Mom1/5

  this place should be SHUT DOWN!!

  HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PLACE< avoid this place at all cost! staff is lazy and uncaring, they treat the patients like furniture no as people. The director of resident care is completely ignorant about healthcare. The patients are not being changed or given showers. I have seen patients being dragged away from the dinning room while they are still trying to eat with staff not even bothering to ask if they are done and WANT to leave. The only people who seem to know what they are doing and actually care about the patients is the director of activities ([Removed]) and the staff nurse ([Removed]). I have talked with many other family's of the patients and they have similar complaints about their loved ones not being changed or given showers, being given the wrong meds, falling and getting hurt. Avoid this place at all cost.

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  Family member

  Sep 20, 2017

• Caring.com5/5

  The people at Kokoro are very nice and kind to my parents. They have many activities to engage the seniors. It's a very nice location and a very good environment. I would highly recommend it. My parents moved in together, and they like the food there. It's located in the middle of Japantown and much of the community is either of Japanese origin or from Japan. They have cultural events as well. They serve both Western and Japanese style food. Much of the staff can speak both Japanese and English. Most people are ambulatory, so it is a better fit for them because they're both still fairly healthy and ambulatory.

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  Family member

  Sep 30, 2015

• A Place for Mom4/5

  They're a nice assisted living place in Japantown. It was a completely different situation that what my mother is in now. It's a nice facility. There are individual rooms and they make the food for you and everything but they don't really treat people with dementia so I didn't think it would be right for my mom.

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  Visitor

  Oct 11, 2013

  Verified
• Caring.com5/5

  My mother was a longtime resident at the Kokoro Assisted Living facility in San Francisco for many years. Finding Kokoro was an absolute God-send for my mother in so many ways. Being of Japanese descent, finding a home where the staff spoke her language, served delicious daily Japanese meals and provided wonderful cultural activities and entertainment were a top priority. These were just a few of the things she enjoyed on a daily basis. Located in the heart of Japan Town in San Francisco, my mother was able to be near the many cultural activities provided by the community at large. However what she loved most was being able to live together with her beloved cat named Nekko-chan in their private apartment. She flourished in the extraordinary care the staff provides each and every resident. There just wasn't any other place quite like Kokoro and what it had to offer as I tried to find the perfect place for her. There can be no greater compliment to any care facility or establishment as to how my mother best described in one word, what living at Kokoro meant to her. Simply stated, she called Kokoro "HOME".

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  Family member

  Dec 13, 2012

• Caring.com4/5

  This is an assisted living facility that has a largely Japanese community. I've had clients there for years. It's located right near Japantown, close to the bus lines. Metered parking is pretty much impossible to find, and garage parking is expensive. It's a nice building. It used to be an old synagogue, and now it's on the National Register of Historic Places, which means they can't make changes to the building. Some of the residents' rooms are in the basement, and they tend to be dark. The ones on the first floor are okay. And the second floor, used for activity rooms and staff offices, is nicer, with more light. There's also a lovely garden and patio area. The staff is very, very good--particularly their director of nursing who is terrific. But all of them are knowledgeable, nice, and caring. A number of the staff also speak Japanese. They have quite a number of activities, including a morning exercise program each day that's well attended. The afternoon activities, though, are mostly geared toward women (most of the residents are women): sewing and knitting, calligraphy, things like that. They also have movies and discussions about current events. The food mainly consists of rice dishes with vegetables and fish and some chicken. It's good, but there's not much variety. Overall, there's a nice camaraderie between the residents and the staff; I do like that.

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  Visitor

  Jul 28, 2011