Kubota Garden

Kubota Garden is a 20-acre (81,000 m²) Japanese garden in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. A public park since 1987, it was started in 1927 by Fujitaro Kubota, a Japanese emigrant. Today, it is maintained as a public park by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation and the Kubota Garden Foundation.

Fujitaro Kubota emigrated from Shikoku, Japan in 1907 and established the Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. Projects of his included the garden at Seattle University and the Japanese garden at Bloedel Reserve in Bainbridge Island. In 1927, he bought 5 acres (20,000 m²) of swampland in Rainier Beach to start the garden and in 1930 increased the size of the garden to 30 acres (120,000 m²). Kubota Garden served as cultural center for the Japanese community in Seattle, as well as a home, office and nursery for his business. During World War II, Kubota Garden was abandoned for four years as Kubota and his family were interned at Camp Minidoka in Idaho. During his internment, Kubota supervised the building of a community park, which included a Japanese rock garden. After the war, he and his sons Tak and Tom Kubota rebuilt the business.

The Japanese government awarded Kubota the Fifth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1972 "for his achievements in his adopted country, for introducing and building respect for Japanese Gardening in this area." Kubota maintained the garden until his death in 1973.

In 1981, the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board declared the core 4.5 acres (18,000 m²) of the park to be a historical landmark of the City of Seattle. In 1987, the City of Seattle bought the garden from the Kubota family, and it is now maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation as well as volunteers from the Kubota Garden Foundation.

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