Tom Kubota, 1917-2004: He created Kubota Gardens

SEATTLE -- Most people know less about Tom Kubota than they do about the stunning public park in Seattle that bears his family's name.

That was fine with Kubota, an unassuming man who valued family above all else. When he died last week at age 87 of congestive heart failure, surrounded by loved ones, the lessons he taught his five children decades ago were firmly anchored.

"He was a man of quiet passion. He lived his dream," his oldest daughter, Linda Byrd, said yesterday. "He really manifested his vision of what he wanted in his family and what he wanted in his garden. But he did it humbly."

Kubota Garden, a 20-acre city park, represents a family's multi-generational commitment to create and share a Japanese-style garden in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. The urban refuge features pruned pines and firs and a necklace of ponds, bridges and waterfalls. The hillside is marked with 400 tons of trucked-in stone.

"All along, it was envisioned to be something that the public was to enjoy," said Byrd, who lives in Sacramento. "Even when it was private property, it was never fenced off."

That accessibility matched Kubota's character.

"We'd be walking down the street and people would say, 'hi,' " Byrd said. "I'd say, 'Daddy, did you know them?' He'd say, 'No, but I was smiling at them.' "

With his corny humor and 5-foot-6-inch stature, Kubota once resembled a Japanese Buddy Hackett. He also was a gentle and sentimental man who could get teary-eyed over a Hallmark commercial.

Kubota was a fixture at his grandchildren's basketball and soccer games, concerts and school plays. The only time he seemed to get upset was when coaches didn't give them enough playing time.

He was born June 10, 1917, in Seattle to Japanese immigrants Fujitaro and Kumaye Kubota. By age 8, he was selling newspaper and magazine subscriptions door to door. He also sold cushions for theater-goers at the Japanese community center.

By 1927, Kubota had saved $800, which his family used to buy the 5 acres of logged-off swamp, the first parcel of what would become Kubota Garden.

Kubota Garden, an idyllic spot in Seattle's Rainier Beach neighborhood, is maintained by an army of dedicated volunteers and the city of Seattle.
He helped his father, a self-taught gardener, and older brother, Tak, in the family landscaping business before and after graduating from Broadway High School and attending the University of Washington.

Kubota joined the Army in 1942, serving in military intelligence during World War II while his family was interned with other Japanese Americans by order of the federal government.

"He'd tell me, 'It was hard because you're serving, and this is the only country you ever knew,' " said his oldest granddaughter, Angela Kubota-Wolbert, a 27-year-old Renton resident.

But aside from the loss of his dog, her grandfather expressed no bitterness over that period, she said.

The family returned from internment in Minidoka, Idaho, to find the garden overgrown and the ponds filled with silt.

But the plot, along with the landscaping business, was restored over the years. Besides residential customers, clients included Seattle University and Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.

"It was my own private secret garden," Kubota-Wolbert said. "Not till I was older did I realize the impact it had on the community."

In 1981, the city of Seattle designated 4.5 acres of Kubota Garden as a historical landmark. During that decade, family members pondered whether they could afford the taxes on the 20-acre site.

When a condominium developer made an offer to buy the property, community groups persuaded the city to buy the site for a park in 1987.

Two years later, the Kubota Family Foundation was established to support the preservation of the garden.

"Tom was careful not to make it sound like the foundation was the family's cause to raise money for the garden," said Joy Okazaki, a foundation board member. "One of our first charges was to let the people know that it was city property and free of charge."

On the board, Kubota would "always listen to other people first," she said. "He was a man of very few words. He'd say, 'You know, I think we could do it this way.' He made it easy for people to understand."

Until his health waned, Kubota continued to work, making an impression on his oldest grandchild, who joined him while finishing her studies at the UW in the late 1990s.

"I loved working with him and being able to eat lunch with him, hear stories about when he was young and see on a day-to-day basis what his work and vision created," Kubota-Wolbert said. "And I know that he loved it, too."

Besides the garden and his family, Kubota loved sports and played baseball and basketball as a youth. Before World War II, he also coached a girls' team in the local Japanese-American basketball league.

A cute player on a rival team, Amy Sakaguchi, caught his eye. They married May 5, 1946, and celebrated their 58th anniversary this year.

In addition to Byrd, their children are Cathy Hem of Renton, Allan Kubota and Margo Izutsu of Renton, and Wendy Goade of Kent. There are 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Byrd remembered a time her dad used her brother to make a point about family togetherness.

"He said, 'I want you kids to be close. When you grow up, Al's wife can make spaghetti and you guys can go over,' " Byrd said. "And Al was in kindergarten at the time."

Decades later, the siblings were at Al's home for dinner when it struck them.

"It was like, 'Oh my gosh, Mary (Al's wife) made spaghetti and we're all here,' " Byrd recalled.

The Kubotas are "a close family and we were always told that being a close family was the most important thing," Goade said. "I hope that this continues for generations to come."

That's a given, Kubota-Wolbert said.

"My grandpa taught us to enjoy each other, take care of each other, be good to each other and, most of all, love each other."

A public memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kubota Garden, Renton Avenue South and 55th Avenue South. Directions and more information are available online at www.kubota.org.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that remembrances be made to Kubota Garden Foundation, P.O. Box 78338, Seattle, WA 98178-0338, or to a favorite charity.