Why stop here
Known as the "strawberry capital of the Pacific Northwest," Bainbridge Island Japanese American farmers cultivated over 620 acres of strawberries before becoming the first community forcibly removed under Executive Order 9066 on March 30, 1942.
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The long version
Where the Suyematsu Farm stand now offers seasonal pumpkins and raspberries to island visitors, the soil remembers a different crop, one that made Bainbridge Island famous across the Pacific Northwest and then vanished almost overnight. For four decades, Japanese American families transformed this island’s logged-over landscape into the region’s premier strawberry-growing center, producing the renowned Marshall variety berry that connoisseurs called “the finest tasting strawberry in the U.S.” Their extraordinary agricultural success made them targets when war fears swept the nation, and on March 30, 1942, this island community became the first Japanese Americans forcibly removed under Executive Order 9066, a bitter distinction that would mark Bainbridge Island’s place in civil rights history.
Japanese immigrants first arrived on Bainbridge Island in the 1880s, drawn by jobs at the Port Blakely Mill Company, then one of the world’s largest lumber mills. In the diverse immigrant village called Yama, Japanese families lived alongside Finnish, Chinese, Italian, and Hawaiian workers, all seeking opportunity in the booming Pacific Northwest timber industry.
But the backbreaking work that would truly transform the island came after the mills moved on. Japanese immigrants undertook the dangerous task of converting logged-over forestland into productive farmland, work that many established farmers considered impossible or unprofitable.
The challenge was extraordinary. Massive Douglas fir and cedar stumps, some eight feet in diameter, dotted the landscape. Japanese farmers used dynamite to blast these stumps, then employed horses and hand tools to drag out the splintered remains. Rocks deposited by ancient glaciers had to be cleared stone by stone. The physical danger was constant, dynamite accidents, crushing injuries from falling timber, and the exhausting labor that could break even the strongest workers.
In 1908, the Moritani family introduced strawberry farming to Bainbridge Island, pioneering the crop that would define the island’s agricultural identity for the next three decades. Their success demonstrated that the island’s climate, soil, and proximity to Seattle markets created ideal conditions for berry cultivation.
By the 1930s, Bainbridge Island had earned its reputation as the “strawberry capital of the Pacific Northwest.” The statistics tell the story of an agricultural transformation:
The crown jewel of this agricultural empire was the Marshall variety strawberry, large, sweet, and intensely flavorful berries that commanded premium prices in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. These berries established Bainbridge Island’s reputation for quality that extended far beyond the Pacific Northwest.
Notable Farming Families:
The Suyematsu family purchased their 40-acre farm in 1928 for $1,600, establishing what would become the oldest continuously farmed land on Bainbridge Island. Their farm represented the achievements possible for Japanese American families despite discriminatory laws.
The Sakuma Brothers started growing berries in 1915, eventually establishing one of the region’s most successful operations. After the war, they would relocate to Burlington, Washington, where their operation became the largest strawberry farm in Skagit Valley, proving the agricultural expertise that Japanese American farmers brought to the Pacific Northwest.
Families like the Hayashida, Nakao, Koura, Sakai, and Harui established thriving operations, each contributing to the island’s agricultural prosperity while building community institutions that maintained Japanese cultural traditions.
Japanese American farmers succeeded through superior knowledge of intensive agriculture adapted from Japan’s farming traditions. They understood soil chemistry, organic fertilization, irrigation management, and cultivation techniques that maximized productivity from relatively small family farms.
Yet their success came despite systematic discrimination. The 1924 Immigration Act prohibited Japanese immigrants (Issei) from becoming U.S. citizens. Washington’s Alien Land Laws made it illegal for non-citizens to own land, forcing many families to lease property or put land titles in their American-born children’s names, creating legal vulnerabilities that would prove devastating when the war came.
The community built institutions to support each other and preserve cultural traditions. Japanese language schools taught children about their heritage, while Buddhist temples and community organizations maintained connections to Japanese culture even as families became deeply rooted in American life.
Children attended Bainbridge Island schools, forming friendships across ethnic lines and participating fully in island life. Many Nisei (second-generation) saw themselves as completely American, which made their later treatment by the government all the more incomprehensible and painful.
After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, fear and prejudice against Japanese Americans intensified rapidly. On February 4, 1942, FBI agents raided Japanese homes on Bainbridge Island, arresting Issei men deemed community leaders and potential security risks, despite zero evidence of disloyalty or sabotage.
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing military commanders to exclude “any or all persons” from designated military areas. Though worded neutrally, the order specifically targeted Japanese Americans.
On March 24, 1942, Lieutenant General John DeWitt signed Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1, targeting Bainbridge Island. The island community, isolated, visible, and near military installations like Fort Ward and Bremerton Naval Shipyard, became the test case for mass removal.
The order gave families six days to prepare.
On that cold March morning, 227 people, men, women, children, and elderly, gathered at Eagledale Ferry Dock with whatever belongings they could carry. Armed soldiers guarded the perimeter as families said goodbye to neighbors, some tearful, others stone-faced with shock and disbelief.
The timing was calculated to cause maximum economic harm. March 30 came just 60 days before the June strawberry harvest, what would have been one of the largest bumper crops in island history. The Washington Berry Growers Association petitioned military authorities to delay removal until after harvest, emphasizing both humanitarian concerns and economic necessity.
The government refused.
Strawberry fields ready for their crucial spring care sat abandoned. Without weeding, irrigation management, and the specialized knowledge that Japanese American farmers possessed, crops failed. Some families arranged for Filipino managers or white neighbors to maintain their farms, but most could not afford this expense. Labor shortages as workers left for better-paying shipyard jobs meant even willing caretakers often failed.
The Suyematsu farm was abandoned entirely during the war years. The Nakao farm, initially maintained by a Filipino manager, eventually fell into disrepair when workers left for shipyard jobs; it was sold to the school district in 1947 for a fraction of its value.
One exception stands out: The Oscar Mapes family maintained the Sakuma Brothers’ property throughout the war, an act of kindness that the Sakuma family never forgot, even though they ultimately lost that property and had to rebuild elsewhere.
Bainbridge families were transported first to Manzanar concentration camp in California’s Owens Valley, a desolate high desert where temperatures ranged from freezing nights to scorching days. Families lived in hastily constructed tar-paper barracks, sharing communal toilets and mess halls, with armed guards and barbed wire defining the perimeter.
In February 1943, many were transferred to Minidoka concentration camp in Idaho’s desert. Some families spent up to four years imprisoned without charges, trials, or due process, all while their sons and brothers were being drafted to fight for America in Europe.
The irony was bitter and inescapable: young Nisei men like Akio Suyematsu and his brother Ish were inducted into the U.S. Army while their parents remained imprisoned as alleged security threats. They would serve in the celebrated 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service, proving their loyalty through service while their families suffered behind barbed wire.
The first returnees were Saichi and Yone Takemoto, who came back in April 1945 to begin rebuilding. Eventually, over half of the pre-war Japanese American population returned to Bainbridge Island, a far higher return rate than most West Coast communities.
But returning meant confronting devastating losses:
The Suyematsu family returned between 1945-1947, with brothers Akio and Ish coming back after military service to find their farm abandoned but intact. They undertook the monumental work of rehabilitation, eventually establishing a successful operation that continued for decades.
Akio Suyematsu (1921-2012) became the last original Japanese American strawberry farmer on Bainbridge Island. Named 1958 Kitsap County Farmer of the Year, he represented both the resilience of his community and the agricultural expertise they brought to the Pacific Northwest. In the 1980s, he transitioned to organic farming, later growing wine grapes and pumpkins, adapting to changing markets while maintaining his family’s connection to the land.
The strawberry fields never fully recovered. At the industry’s height, close to 30 Japanese American families farmed strawberries on Bainbridge Island; by the 21st century, there were virtually none.
Economic factors, aging farmers, and the appeal of other opportunities for the Nisei and Sansei (third-generation) meant that few children continued farming. The island’s proximity to Seattle made land increasingly valuable for residential development rather than agriculture, while the intensive labor requirements and modest financial returns of strawberry farming couldn’t compete with other career paths.
The Suyematsu Farm property, 40 acres that once grew strawberries, is now split among city ownership, educational programs, and multiple small farms. The original Suyematsu house is being converted to a museum by the Bainbridge Historical Society, ensuring the story will be preserved for future generations.
Today, Bainbridge Island honors this history through multiple memorials and institutions:
The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial at Eagle Harbor commemorates March 30, 1942, with the names of all 227 people removed that day inscribed on a “Story Wall” that faces toward the water where families departed.
Haiku No Niwa garden at the Bainbridge Public Library creates a contemplative space honoring Japanese American heritage and the connection between people and land.
Sonoji Sakai Elementary School bears the name of an Issei farmer, ensuring that children growing up on the island learn about the Japanese American families who helped build their community.
The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC) maintains historical archives, educational programs, and community events that preserve memories and connect descendants with their island heritage.
The story of Bainbridge Island’s strawberry fields reveals truths about American history that remain uncomfortably relevant:
Success and hard work do not guarantee protection from prejudice and injustice. Japanese American families who transformed logged-over wasteland into prosperous farms, who contributed to their island’s economy and culture, who sent their sons to fight for America, all found that none of this mattered when fear and racism motivated government action.
The designation as “first” carries particular weight. Bainbridge Island families became the test case for mass removal, and their six-day deadline set the brutal precedent that would be replicated in communities across the West Coast. That this could happen to law-abiding citizens and legal residents without due process exposed fundamental weaknesses in constitutional protections.
Yet the story also demonstrates extraordinary resilience. That over half of the families returned, that they rebuilt their lives and community, that Akio Suyematsu continued farming into the 21st century, all of this reflects the determination to claim their rightful place in American society despite betrayal.
Today, as visitors pick pumpkins at farms where strawberries once grew, the soil beneath their feet holds memories of what was lost and what endured. The strawberry fields of Bainbridge Island remind us that American history includes both the achievement of immigrant dreams and their destruction, and that remembering both truths remains essential to living up to America’s founding ideals.
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