By the 1920s, Bellevue had become famous for its delicious strawberries, a chief crop of many Japanese families. This led to the first annual Bellevue Strawberry Festival being held behind the Main Street school in mid-June 1925. The first festival attracted 3,000 visitors, an impressive number for the small community of Bellevue. In 1935, more than 15,000 people attended the festival.

The highlight of the festival was the scrumptious strawberry shortcakes with sun-ripened red strawberries topped with thick cream from local dairies.

Prior to World War II, there were about 300 Japanese Americans living in Bellevue; comprising 15% of the general population and 90% of the agricultural workforce, and managing 472 acres of land.

On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which lead to the forced removal of all people of Japanese descent from the West Coast. In May 1942, all of the Japanese residents of Bellevue were taken from their homes and sent to the Pinedale Assembly site near Fresno, California. Many of these families did not return to Bellevue after the war ended.

Eastside Heritage Center has been hosting an annual Haiku Contest for over a decade. We hope participation will encourage students to learn more about the history of agriculture and the experiences of the Japanese community on the Eastside.

CONTEST DETAILS

Theme: Write a Haiku about Strawberry Shortcake

Submission Deadline: Monday, June 12, 2023

Notification to Winners: Monday, June 19, 2023

A Haiku is a classical Japanese poetry form. The standard Haiku format is a triplet of lines containing five, seven, and five syllables per respective line. Sample:

Ladybugs are red,

And have black spots on their wings.

Experts at flying.

Criteria: Winning submissions will show originality, creativity, clarity of expression, good spelling, grammar and syntax.

Prizes: First Place - $25, Second Place - $15, Third Place - $10

Submissions must include the author’s name, age, and school, as well as guardian’s email address. These are needed for notification.

Submit entries to: education@eastsideheritagecenter.org or mail to Eastside Heritage Center, P.O. Box 40535, Bellevue, WA 98015.

Submissions will not be returned and will become the property of Eastside Heritage Center.