Seattle's karaoke hotspot Bush Garden looks to late 2024 reopening, new future
Before it closed, Bush Garden was the hangout of choice in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District — not just for drinks but also for some serious karaoke.
Later this year the karaoke hotspot will reopen, entering a new chapter in a new home.
Construction inside the new space has yet to start. Compared to its former home, it’s smaller, but it feels airier.
Owner Karen Akada Sakata said she can’t wait to show the community what’s in store for the new Bush Garden.
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“The bar is going to be back over here,” she said, as she pointed to the area that will be the center of activity. “And this is going to be the focal point for the karaoke.”
Sakata said she’s saved items that may be recognizable to longtime patrons — the shoji screen, the torii gate, and many of the original fixtures — to keep the sense of the old space.
“It’s not going to be the old place; it never will be,” Sakata said. Still, she wants to incorporate Bush’s rich past with the present. “But how do we create this new space and energy in here is what I’m really, really looking forward to.”
Since 1953, Bush Garden has been the place for weddings, graduations, and other life milestones. Once upon a time, Japanese-speaking servers wore kimonos while cooking sukiyaki table side.
Then in the 1970s, Bush Garden installed a karaoke machine, the first in the country, according to HistoryLink.org.
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At first, karaoke was seen as a novelty. But before long, people were queuing up for their turn with the microphone to sing their favorite song. Among the regulars was the late community activist Bob Santos. Uncle Bob, as he was affectionately called, rallied community residents to protect the neighborhood’s identity and history for decades.
“Bob was a reluctant convert to being a karaoke singer,” said his wife, Sharon Tomiko Santos.
Those who knew him might find it hard to imagine Bob Santos as reluctant in that regard. Initially, the available karaoke songs were in Japanese. Santos said Uncle Bob changed his mind about karaoke when Bush Garden added English songs. And he made sure to practice before going on stage. He was surprised to see the audience receptive to his singing.
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“He fed on the energy of other people,” Santos said. “But particularly, he fed on the energy of young people.”
And the young people loved him back.
“Uncle Bob Santos used to hold court there on Tuesdays,” recalled Cynthia Brothers, founder of Vanishing Seattle, which chronicles the small businesses that have been lost to development. “All the young organizers would kind of flock to him. He was really fun.”
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Like many of her peers, Brothers bonded with Uncle Bob over karaoke. And he became their mentor.
Sharon Tomiko Santos said Bush Garden became his second office in a way.
“He wanted other people to love this neighborhood as much as he did,” Santos said.
In 2021, as the Covid-19 pandemic raged on, Bush Garden lost its home. Its old building was slated to be torn down for a new apartment building. For supporters like Brothers, the International District without Bush Garden was unfathomable.
“These types of places are even more important after we’ve been isolated and disconnected,” Brothers said. “And I feel like we have to maintain and nurture these places, otherwise they go away.”
In the end, Bush Garden had to move. Eventually, owner Karen Akada Sakata found a permanent home for the new Bush Garden. Fittingly, it’s under an affordable housing project called Uncle Bob’s Place in the heart of the neighborhood on 8th Avenue South.
“It really is just about creating space for this generation and future generations to have a home, and a community to be connected to,” she said.
She may be shepherding the Bush’s new chapter, but it will be the voices of the next karaoke singers who will drive its vision.
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Ruby de Luna
Reporter
Ruby de Luna is a reporter with a focus on food and how it intersects with health, communities, and culture. She has also reported on health care, and immigrant communities.
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