Name Fujitaro Kubota | Died 1973 | |
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Fujitaro Kubota (1879-1973) was a Japanese born, American gardener and philanthropist.
Kubota was among the Issei emigrants from Japan who made new lives for themselves in the United States. When he first arrived, he worked on the railroad. By 1922, he was able to start his own gardening business in Seattle. In 1927, he began work on a small garden as a hobby; and the task would assume an important role in the rest of his life and that of his children and grandchildren.
Kubota and his family were interned at Camp Minidoka in Idaho during the early days of World War II. His Seattle-born son Tom (1917-2004) would meet his wife and the mother of grandchildren at Minidoka.
Honors
In the year before his death, the Japanese Government honored this lifelong gardener by presenting him with the Order of the Sacred Treasure "for his achievements in his adopted country, for introducing and building respect for Japanese Gardening." The formal decoration badge is a Maltese cross in gilt and silver which was produced by the Japan Mint.
The public garden which bears Kubota's name is no less significant as a monument to Kubota's life.