Why stop here
Once the heart of the Eastside's agricultural economy, these fields tell the story of immigrant farmers who helped build Bellevue's prosperity. Japanese American families were particularly prominent in strawberry farming before World War II.
Before you go
Hours, fees, access, closures, parking, and trail conditions change. Use the directions link to identify the managing agency and confirm anything time-sensitive before making a special trip.
The long version
Across what is now downtown Bellevue, where glass towers rise and tech companies flourish, once stretched endless rows of strawberry plants tended by Japanese American families who transformed the Eastside into a thriving agricultural center. From the 1890s through World War II, these pioneering farmers built not only a prosperous farming community but also an annual Strawberry Festival that put Bellevue on the map as a destination for thousands of visitors. Their story is one of agricultural innovation, cultural resilience, and devastating loss, a chapter in American history that reveals both the promise and betrayal of the immigrant experience.
The first Japanese settlers arrived in the White River Valley in 1893, followed by families who settled in Bellevue beginning in 1898. These immigrants brought agricultural knowledge from Japan’s intensive farming traditions, but they faced the backbreaking work of transforming logged-over land into productive farmland.
The challenge was extraordinary. After massive Douglas fir and cedar trees were harvested, stumps up to eight feet in diameter remained scattered across the landscape. Japanese farmers undertook the dangerous work of removing these stumps using dynamite, hand tools, and techniques that often resulted in serious injuries or death. The cleared land then required extensive soil preparation, drainage systems, and fertilization before crops could be planted.
By 1904, the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad’s Wilburton trestle brought reliable transportation connections that enabled farmers to ship their produce efficiently to Seattle markets. This infrastructure development coincided with the arrival of more Japanese families, creating the foundation for the agricultural community that would dominate Bellevue’s economy for nearly half a century.
Japanese farmers revolutionized Pacific Northwest agriculture through superior knowledge of fertilization, irrigation, and cultivation techniques. Working small family farms averaging 5-15 acres, they achieved productivity levels that amazed their neighbors and competitors. By the 1920s, Japanese farmers supplied 75% of Seattle and King County’s vegetables despite comprising a small percentage of the total farming population.
The Takeshita family, who purchased 13 acres near the railroad tracks and Lake Bellevue in 1919, exemplified the community’s approach to intensive agriculture. They diversified beyond strawberries to grow pole beans, peas, tomatoes, cabbages, cucumbers, celery, and lettuce, maximizing income from limited acreage while maintaining soil health through crop rotation and organic fertilization methods.
About 55 Japanese American families cultivated the Eastside prior to World War II, with 32 Issei (first-generation immigrants) becoming landowners between 1905-1938. These families included the Matsuokas, Tsushimas, Itos, and Suguros, and collectively Bellevue’s roughly 55 Japanese American families farmed about 472 acres of strawberry farmland while building social institutions that strengthened their community.
In June 1925, Bellevue held its first Strawberry Festival, attracting 3,000 visitors to a community with fewer than 1,000 residents. This remarkable event celebrated both the agricultural abundance created by Japanese farmers and the community spirit that brought together people from diverse backgrounds to enjoy local produce, entertainment, and fellowship.
The festival’s success exceeded all expectations. By 1935, peak attendance reached 15,000 people, five times Bellevue’s entire population. Visitors arrived by ferry, train, and automobile to enjoy fresh strawberries and cream, live music, dancing, and games while supporting local farmers and businesses.
Japanese farmers provided the majority of strawberries for the festival, transforming their agricultural success into community celebration that benefited everyone. The festival established Bellevue as a regional destination while demonstrating how agricultural prosperity could support broader economic development and cultural exchange.
The Japanese American farming community created sophisticated social institutions that maintained cultural traditions while adapting to American circumstances. The Bellevue Vegetable Growers’ Association coordinated marketing and provided mutual support during challenging times. The Kokaido Clubhouse, built in 1930 at 101st Avenue NE and NE 11th Street, served as a community center for meetings, celebrations, and cultural activities.
Children attended Bellevue schools alongside neighbors from other backgrounds, while families maintained connections to Japanese language and traditions through Buddhist temples, cultural celebrations, and family practices. This dual identity, deeply American yet distinctly Japanese, created a unique cultural synthesis that enriched the entire community.
The community’s economic success enabled families to invest in property, education, and business development. Many Issei parents sacrificed to ensure their Nisei (second-generation) children could attend college and pursue professional careers, believing that education provided the best path to full American acceptance and opportunity.
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the military to exclude “any or all persons” from designated areas. This seemingly neutral language targeted Japanese Americans specifically, regardless of citizenship status or demonstrated loyalty.
On May 20, 1942, 60 Japanese American families, approximately 300 individuals, were forced to leave Bellevue with only what they could carry. They were transported to Tule Lake concentration camp in Northern California, where they would spend the remainder of the war in barbed-wire enclosures under armed guard.
The economic impact was immediate and devastating. Strawberry fields that should have been harvested stood abandoned, causing financial losses that rippled through the entire community. The 1942 Strawberry Festival was cancelled, ending a tradition that had defined Bellevue’s identity for seventeen years.
With 90% of Bellevue’s agricultural workforce gone overnight, the area’s farming economy collapsed. Pike Place Market stalls that had been supplied by Bellevue farmers sat empty, while unharvested crops rotted in abandoned fields throughout the Eastside.
When families were finally released from the camps after the war ended, only 20 of the original 60 families returned to the Pacific Northwest. Many had lost their land due to inability to make mortgage payments during incarceration, while others chose to start over in different states rather than return to communities where they had faced betrayal and discrimination.
Those who did return found their former homes and farms occupied by others or developed for different purposes. The tight-knit agricultural community that had defined Bellevue for nearly half a century had been shattered, never to be fully restored.
The broader agricultural economy of the Eastside never recovered its pre-war vitality. Without the intensive farming techniques and dedicated labor that Japanese American families had provided, much of the cleared farmland was sold for residential and commercial development that would transform Bellevue into the suburban city it became.
Today, visitors to downtown Bellevue can see no visible traces of the strawberry fields that once covered the area where shopping centers and office buildings now stand. The Midlakes area, Spring District, Vuecrest, and other neighborhoods were built on land that once produced the berries that brought thousands of visitors to celebrate Bellevue’s agricultural abundance.
The Bellevue Historical Society revived the Strawberry Festival in 1987, and it operated until 2018 as a celebration of community heritage and agricultural history. While these modern festivals honored the past, they could not recreate the authentic agricultural foundation that had made the original celebrations so meaningful.
The city maintains two blueberry farms as heritage sites, providing glimpses of the agricultural landscape that once defined the area. Recent art installations, including a farmhouse exhibit at the King County Library, work to preserve the memory of the Japanese American farming community and educate new residents about this significant chapter in local history.
The story of Bellevue’s Historic Strawberry Fields reveals both the best and worst of the American experience. Japanese American farmers demonstrated that immigrants could contribute enormously to their new country’s prosperity while maintaining their cultural heritage and building inclusive communities.
Their agricultural innovations, work ethic, and community spirit created economic opportunity that benefited everyone, while their Strawberry Festival showed how cultural celebration could bring diverse people together in appreciation of shared abundance.
Yet their forced removal and the destruction of their community also demonstrates how quickly prosperity and acceptance can vanish when fear and prejudice override constitutional protections and basic human decency. The strawberry fields of Bellevue remind us that America’s promise of opportunity and justice remains fragile, requiring constant vigilance and active commitment from each generation.
Today, as Bellevue continues evolving as a center of technology and international business, the memory of its strawberry fields offers important lessons about the contributions of immigrant communities, the value of agricultural heritage, and the ongoing responsibility to protect the rights and dignity of all who seek to build better lives in American soil.
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