History

Before World War II, Bellevue was home to 60 thriving Japanese American families who grew lettuce, strawberries, and a variety of other crops sold mainly in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. First- and second-generation immigrants, these families worked hard to farm in challenging conditions.

While the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into World War II acted as catalysts for incarceration, anti-Japanese sentiment had been building in Bellevue for years. Local white leaders were vocal in their support of incarcerating Japanese Americans, even lobbying at the federal level to agitate for their removal. Bellevue Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and farms and were incarcerated first at the Pinedale Assembly Center in Puyallup, then the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, a concentration camp in north central California.

Some families returned after the war, and many did not. Those that did found burned-down homes and barns, fallow fields, and signs using racial slurs instructing them to “go home.” Their years-long incarceration had lasting impacts that have resonated for generations. Despite the trauma and hardship—and ever-present racism—Japanese American families endured and even thrived in Bellevue. Isan Bellevue honors them by celebrating their lives and contributions.

Strawberry pickers on the Takeshita farm in Bellevue, 1933. Photo courtesy Eastside Heritage Center.

Dedication gathering of the Kokaido (Japanese Community Clubhouse) in 1932, located at 101st Ave NE and NE 11th St, Bellevue. The Kokaido was the scene of many happy activities, such as amateur theater, athletics, Japanese language classes, religious meetings and social events. Photo courtesy Eastside Heritage Center.