The Seike Japanese Garden: a Monument to Japanese American History in Seattle

The garden was created by the Seike family at their Des Moines Way Nursery and dedicated in memory of their son, Toll Seike, a young soldier who was killed while serving with the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. Shinichi Seike, Toll's father, had immigrated to the U.S. from Japan in 1919. A decade later, he purchased 13 acres of land near Des Moines Memorial Drive. During WWII, the family was forcibly relocated to an internment camp under President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, along with approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast. While many local families lost their properties when they were interned, the Seikes were fortunate that their friends managed their land in their absence.

All three of the Seike sons served in the military. Toll, who was part of the 442nd, which became one of the most highly decorated military units in U.S. history, was killed in action in France. After the war, the Seikes returned to their home and started a nursery. Sons Hal and Ben earned Horticultural degrees from Washington State University. In 1961, they began building a traditional Japanese garden as a memorial to Toll. They hired a renowned garden designer from Hiroshima to assist with planning and construction.

Decades later, in 1996, the Seattle Port Authority announced that it would expand Seattle-Tacoma International Airport into an area that housed the nursery and the Seike Garden. In 2002, the Port of Seattle purchased the entire 13-acre property, including the garden. Community leaders, volunteers, and government partners worked together to preserve the garden by relocating it to its current home at the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden, which was created in 1999 in an effort to relocate another historic garden (Elda Behm's Paradise Garden). The effort is considered one of the largest Japanese garden relocations ever undertaken in the U.S.

Today, visitors can explore a landscape of ponds, bridges, stone lanterns, and carefully cultivated plants while also learning about a family's legacy of service, perseverance, and community stewardship. The garden stands as both a cultural treasure and a reminder of an important chapter in Pacific Northwest history.

A 2017 feature in The Seattle Times described how the last remaining Seike son still regularly visited and tended the garden into his 90s. Read the story.

*The above information was inspired by signage at The Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden and the story in The Seattle Times.