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. Last summer we then completed the extensive and complex restoration of the water feature (the ponds). Now we are ready to start on landscaping the North Garden – hill plantings and lawn restoration. The work should be complete by the end of May, so put a visit to the Muaki Farm and Garden on your calendar!
Read our article about Kuni’s garden from November 13th, 2018.
