A Japanese Oasis

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Back in 1927, Fujitaro Kubota bought five acres of logged-off swampland in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. He didn't just start a nursery business; he began a lifelong project of merging Japanese design techniques with North American materials. For decades, this was a private labor of love, but in 1987, after neighbors organized to prevent its loss, the city acquired the property.

Now, Kubota Garden is a twenty-acre public oasis. From the Bamboo Grove to the Necklace of Ponds, it welcomes visitors year-round for free, offering a serene blend of Pacific Northwest plants and Japanese form.

Updated June 2026