Foreword and short story by National Book Award Winner Charles
Johnson
Introduction by Thaïsa Way, PhD
Short story by New York Times Best Selling Author, Jamie Ford
Academics, novelists, poets, and garden enthusiasts examine the legacy
of immigrant and nurseryman Fujitaro Kubota, whose unique gardens
transformed Seattle's regional landscape in the 20th century. A
self-taught gardener, Kubota built a thriving landscape business,
eventually assembling 20 acres in south Seattle that he shaped into a
beautiful and enduring Japanese garden. Today, this public park serves
one of Washington's most diverse zip codes.
An innovator and artist, Kubota created the first "drive-through" garden
to capitalize on America's love for the automobile. While incarcerated
at Minidoka prison camp during World War II, Kubota also created a
memorable garden in the desert. To Kubota, everything has spirit. Rocks
and stones pulsed with life, he said, and that energy is still apparent
in his gardens today.
Photographs by Gemina Garland-Lewis and Nathan Wirth are interwoven with
original poetry by Samuel Green, Claudia Castro-Luna, and others to make
this a unique book where every page presents a different view of
Kubota's garden.
