Kubota Garden

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View towards the Kubota Garden gate.

Kubota Garden is a 20 acre (81,000 m²) Japanese garden in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.^[1] 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.^[2]

History

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.^[3] 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.

In addition, 17 acres (69,000 m²) surrounding the park has been purchased by the Open Space Program in the City of Seattle in order to protect Mapes Creek, which runs through the park. The Tom Kubota Stroll Garden broke ground in 1999 and was opened in 2000. The garden received a new entrance gate designed by Gerard Tsutakawa in 2004.

The garden has encountered the problems associated with vandalism when the staff has left for the day—as evidenced by beer bottles strewn about on the property. Shell casings are a sign that firearms have been fired; and graffiti has appeared.^[4]

Kubota Garden Foundation

The Kubota Garden Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1989 to "support, enhance, and perpetuate the Kubota Garden within the spirit and vision of Fujitaro Kubota."^[5] Kubota's vision included opening the garden to the public and increasing American understanding and appreciation of Japanese Gardens. The foundation provides additional fundraising, volunteer work, and publications to support the garden.

Features and programs

The garden is open to the public every day during daylight hours all year round. School children, senior groups, tourists, and garden clubs make up a large portion of their audience.

Major features of the Kubota Garden include the Meeting Lawn, the Bamboo Grove, the Necklace of Ponds, the Mountainside, and the Tom Kubota Stroll Garden.

The fourth Saturday between April and October, the Kubota Garden holds a public tour.

The Kubota Gardens contain many varieties of trees and plants including Kuretake (Phyllostachys nigra or Black Bamboo), Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum), Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlanticus Glauca), and Norway Spruce (Picea abies).

Notes

↑ Stiffler, Lisa. "Savoring the delights of Japantown and the hands-on Kubota Gardens". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. April 9, 2008.
↑ A Short History of the Kubota Garden
↑ Tamura, Teresa "Minidoka Memories" Pacific Northwest Magazine August 15, 2004.
↑ Wong, Dean. "Garden abused: Kubota Gardens tarnished by vandalism". International Examiner. August 16, 1995.
↑ Kubota Garden Foundation Newsletter. Spring/Summer 2010.

References

Itō, Kazuo. (1973). Issei: A History of Japanese Immigrants in North America. Seattle: Japanese Community Service. OCLC 3698919
Joyce, Alice. (2006). Gardenwalks in the Pacific Northwest: Beautiful Gardens Along the Coast from Oregon to British Columbia. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot. 13-ISBN 0-7627-3818-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-7627-3818-2; OCLC

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kubota Garden.

Coordinates: 47°30′45″N 122°16′00″W / 47.51250°N 122.26667°W / 47.51250; -122.26667

Protected Areas of Seattle

Federal

National Parks	Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Wing Luke Museum (affiliated)

City Parks and
Preserves

Greater than 50 acres (20 ha)	Alki Beach Carkeek Discovery Genesee Golden Gardens Green Lake Jackson Jefferson Lake Washington Boulevard Lincoln Magnolia Tidelands Park Magnuson Puget Seattle Center Seward Westcrest West Seattle Golf Course Woodland

10–50 acres (4.0–20.2 ha)	Brighton Playfield Camp Long Cheasty Boulevard South Colman Condon Way Centerstrip Dahl Playfield Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook Fauntleroy Frink Garfield Gas Works Hamilton Viewpoint Herring's House Park (Tualtwx) Hiawatha Interbay Golf Interlaken Kinnear Lakeridge Lawton Leschi Longfellow Creek Madrona Magnolia Magnolia Playfield Maple Leaf Reservoir Maple Wood Playfield Matthews Beach Meadowbrook Playfield Me-Kwa-Mooks Montlake Playfield Mount Baker Northacres Open Water Park Pigeon Point Pritchard Island Beach Queen Anne Boulevard Ravenna Park Riverview Playfield Roxhill Sam Smith Schmitz Soundview Playfield Stan Sayres Memorial Volunteer Walt Hundley Playfield West Seattle Stadium

0.02–10 acres (0.0081–4.0469 ha)	Alvin Larkins Beer Sheva Bryant Playground Cal Anderson Cascade Playground Cowen City Hall Commodore Denny Denny-Blaine East Montlake Fairview Freeway Fremont Peak Hing Hay Home of the Good Shepherd I-5 Colonnade Jack Block Jimi Hendrix Kerry Kiwanis Ravine Kobe Terrace Lake People Lake Union Lakeview Louisa Boren Madison Marshall Park McCurdy Meridian Playground Myrtle Edwards North Passage Point Northacres Occidental Olympic Sculpture Park Oxbow Peace Rizal Roanoke South Passage Point Terry Pettus Park Tilikum Place Union Bay Natural Area Victor Steinbrueck Viretta Waterfront West Montlake Westlake

Under 0.02 acres (0.0081 ha)	Boylston Place Lakeview Place Westlake Square

Other

Farms, gardens and P-Patches	Beacon Food Forest Danny Woo International District Community Garden Interbay P-Patch Marra Farm Picardo Farm

Green belts	St. Mark's Greenbelt SW Queen Anne Greenbelt The Jungle (Seattle) West Duwamish Greenbelt

Zoos and aquariums	Seattle Aquarium Woodland Park Zoo

Arboretums and Botanical Gardens	Carl S. English, Jr., Botanical Gardens Kubota Garden Piper Orchard Seattle Chinese Garden Seattle Japanese Garden South Seattle Community College Arboretum Volunteer Park Conservatory Washington Park Arboretum

Landscape architecture	Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition Olmsted parks

Bicycle trails	Burke-Gilman Trail Chief Sealth Trail

Seattle Parks and Recreation • List of parks in Seattle

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