1926
BD Mukai, a Japanese immigrant from Osaka, Japan, and his family, purchased 60 acres to farm and process strawberries.
1928 to 1942
The entrepreneurial Mukai family enjoyed impressive success, with berries shipped all over the country.
1940s
The Fruit Barreling Plant and craftsman bungalow were completed in the late 1920s. But racism and xenophobia caused the family to flee Vashon in 1942 in response to the Japanese Exclusion Act.
TODAY
Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the restored Mukai house and Japanese Garden is beautiful and storied. Mrs. Mukai installed a Japanese Garden around the home, hosting many community events.
VISIT
Come stroll, walk, picnic, tour, attend an event or party. Learn about Vashon’s Japanese American and agricultural heritage at this important island treasure.
Feature: Kuni’s Garden
Peonies blooming in the North Garden
The Japanese Garden: Designed and installed during the 1930’s by Kuni Mukai, a Japanese immigrant, her “hill garden” features extensive rockwork, plantings and a surrounding pond.
Great progress has been made on the garden over the last two years. We hired a well known Pacific Northwest Landscape Architect Karen Kiest who completed a technical guidance plan for plant selection, rockery, site circulation and hardscape.
In the fall of 2018, the 90-year-old Japanese Garden pond was restored. How? Watch this video!
Landscaping in the North Garden, hill plantings and lawn restoration completed in June, 2019.
Come and see the revived garden!
Related article:
– “Kuni’s garden” – November 13th, 2018
– “A historical garden restoration: Kuni’s Garden” – June 21st, 2019
VCA Garden Tour & Garden Party – June, 2019:
Over 750 visitors toured Mukai Farm & Garden as part of the annual Vashon Center for the Arts Garden Tour, June 22-23, 2019. At the kick-off “GALA” dinner on June 21, Friends of Mukai welcomed 150 guests including the Consul General of Japan, Yoichi Yamada to the property, just as Kuni Mukai shared her garden with the community 90 years ago. Read more: https://mailchi.mp/mukaifarmandgarden/lively-weekend-at-kunis-garden
2019 Vashon Japan Festival Report:
The 2nd annual Japan Festival, a celebration of Japanese culture, was held on Saturday, September 14th at the Mukai Farm & Garden on Vashon. In the spirit of Kuni, who opened her garden to visitors, the Friends of Mukai invited the Vashon community, Japanese Americans and visitors from around the region to celebrate Japanese culture this Festival. Click here to read more.
A Short Movie About Mukai Made by King County:
As part of a series on historic properties in the region, Vaun Raymond, Pam Davis and Brian Starr produced the 4 minute clip. Thanks to King County TV and 4Culture.
Click here to watch.
News
Bellevue College apologizes after administrator alters display on Japanese American incarceration
www.seattletimes.com
The art installation “Never Again Is Now,” created by Seattle artist Erin Shigaki, includes an 11-foot-tall mural of two children who were photographed at a California incarceration camp. The proj...Check our latest newsletter!
mailchi.mp/mukaifarmandgarden/day-of-remembrance-film-screening
Who is an American? The Day of Remembrance shows how vulnerable our rights can be and how we still need to protect them for today’s targeted families. Thank you Crosscut and Wing Luke Museum for the personal story of PNW Japanese Americans. And thank you Tsuru for Solidarity for demanding the best for all.
Perspective | A 'trail of ghosts' in Seattle, 78 years after Japanese incarceration
crosscut.com
On this Day of Remembrance, Japanese Americans help ask who gets to identify as American today.