Kubota Garden Foundation Information

The Kubota Garden Foundation is a non-profit 501(c3) organization that has worked in partnership with the City of Seattle for the past 30+ years. The City maintains the garden, while KGF runs programs and events at the garden and maintains a constant community focus on the garden in a changing city environment. Kubota Garden is located in the Rainier Beach neighborhood in southeast Seattle. This beautiful 20-acre garden is the masterpiece of landscape designer Fujitaro Kubota, a horticultural pioneer who infused traditional Japanese garden design with the Pacific Northwest plant palate to create a unique Japanese garden. The garden began in 1927 as the nursery, home and display gardens of Fujitaro Kubota. An immigrant from Japan, he and his sons ran a flourishing landscaping business for over a decade prior to their incarceration at Minidoka during World War II. The family returned after the war to restore the overgrown garden and to rebuild their business which included work at the Seattle University campus and at Bloedel Reserve in addition to numerous residential commissions. The 4.5-acre core garden was designated by the City as a Historical Landmark in 1981 and the Kubota family sold the 20-acre garden to the City in 1987.