Peek in the Park: Gardens at Minidoka
Peek in the Park: Gardens at Minidoka
By Camille Daw, Graduate Fellow
Photo credit: Courtesy of the National Archives, 210-CMB-I1-1254
Gardening supports a healthy lifestyle. Many enjoy gardening as a hobby and are happy to receive the fruits- or flowers- of their labor. At Minidoka, incarcerated Nikkei created gardens that varied in complexity and purpose using the land and resources of their confinement site. One of these gardens remains standing today. An archaeological survey conducted the National Park Service in 2002 exposed the remains of an incarceree-created rock garden near the entrance of the site, right by the honor roll. Fujitaro Kubato, an Issei landscape architect incarcerated at Minidoka, created the garden using basaltic rocks and created a small pathway throughout the garden and honor roll. The archaeological survey revealed that the rocks remained in their original location, though other plants and shrubs were likely present and had either died or been removed since the war’s end. For many confined at Minidoka, the rock garden helped to represent patriotism and their loved ones who valiantly fought overseas. Other incarcerated Japanese Americans also contributed to the beautification of their “home” behind barbed wire through additional rock gardens outside of their barracks. For example, Yasusuke Kogita created an intricate rock garden (pictured below), by going to the remote parts of the confinement camp with a pickaxe and digging for rocks every day. After Yasusuke dug out the rocks, he moved them onto a pallet and dragged them back to his barrack. He then created a rock garden with the boulders and other desert plants found around the site. At the end of the war, the War Relocation Authority offered to ship Nikkei their belongings to their new address as a part of their “relocation” efforts. Yasusuke requested that the WRA send his rock garden to his home in Seattle.
Watch the video below to hear his sons talk about their father, Yasusuke Kogita and his legacy: