Day 291: Kubota Garden, Seattle, Washington
📌APIA Every Day (291) - The Kubota Garden in Seattle was established by first-generation Japanese immigrant Fujitaro Kubota in 1927. Representing over half a century of dedicated work by Kubota and his family, it stands as one of the earliest examples of a Japanese-style garden cultivated by an immigrant in the U.S. Rather than imitating landscapes in Japan, the design of the Kubota Garden adapts traditional Japanese aesthetics to its Pacific Northwest environment. Symbolic of the Japanese American immigrant experience, this garden has long served as an important gathering space for the Seattle community.
After immigrating to Washington State in 1906 with his family, Fujitaro Kubota worked various jobs before founding the Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. In 1927, seeking space for his business, he arranged to purchase five acres of swampland in South Seattle. Due to the Alien Land Laws at the time, which prevented Japanese immigrants from owning land, the property had to be purchased under the name of Kubota's friend, a Japanese American citizen. Kubota began cultivating his display garden, and after the Kubota family moved onto the property in 1940, he expanded his total land to 20 acres. Although it wasn’t public property, the garden became an important gathering space for the local Japanese American community.
In 1942, Executive Order 9066 forced Kubota and his family into the Minidoka incarceration camp in Idaho. While there, he tended the camp's grounds, planting trees and gardens to provide shade. Throughout the war years, the family’s Seattle house was rented out and maintained, but the garden fell into a period of severe neglect. When the Kubotas returned to the city in 1945, it took four years of labor before the garden was fully restored. During this time, Kubota also revived his gardening business and the family continued to enhance their personal garden with new features well into the 1970s. After Washington's repeal of the Alien Land Laws in 1966, Fujitaro Kubota finally gained legal ownership of his gardens. In 1973, the year of his death, Japan awarded him The Fifth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure for fostering greater appreciation of Japanese gardens and culture in Seattle.
The garden received designation as a Seattle Landmark in 1981 but soon faced redevelopment pressure from housing authorities. Following advocacy from the Japanese American community and other Seattle residents, the city purchased the property from the Kubota family. In 1987, the Kubota Garden reopened as a public park, jointly maintained by Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Kubota Garden Foundation. Today, it remains a beloved community site that preserves the legacy of early Japanese American immigrants and honors Fujitaro Kubota's enduring lifelong vision for a public Japanese garden in Seattle.
Written by Avneet Dhaliwal
LEARN MORE:
HistoryLink: Kubota Garden (Seattle)
A Short History of the Kubota Garden in Rainier Beach Seattle, Washington
Kubota Garden Foundation: Fujitaro Remembered
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