The Long Way
Orange County
A man takes a photo of a woman and child posing behind a pumpkin patch sign.
Plate I. Pumpkin patch frame at Tanaka Farms. From tanakafarms.com
Market stand at Tanaka Farms.
Plate II. Market stand at Tanaka Farms. Photograph by Justirvine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Crop fields at Tanaka Farms.
Plate III. Crop fields at Tanaka Farms. Photograph by AngryJulieMonday, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tanaka Farms

Irvine, Orange County, California. Fruit & Vegetable Store; Open daily until Nov 1.

Details

Map. Irvine, Orange County, California. Larger map
Where
5380 3/4 University Drive, Irvine, CA 92612. Directions
When
Hours: Mon-Thu 9am-6pm Fri-Sun 9am-9pm.
Access
*All items are subject to crop availability. Weather conditions may affect availability of crops. Prices vary and are dependent on market conditions and availability.
Walk-in or reserve
RESERVATION REQUIRED!
Phone
949.653.2100
Website
tanakafarms.com
Managed by
Tanaka Farms, LLC.
Established
1998.

Family-owned and operated 30-acre farm in the heart of Irvine.

Notable Events

  1. 1941In 1941, Farmer Grandpa George gets his own truck to ship produce in La Habra, California. tanakafarms.com
  2. 1942In 1942, Farmer Grandpa George flees to Utah so he doesn't have to go into the WW2 Internment camps; in Utah he meets his future wife Grandma Chris. tanakafarms.com
  3. 1945In 1945, after the end of World War 2, Grandpa George and Grandma Chris come back to Orange County and reside in Fountain Valley, where they farmed various properties with tomatoes, vegetables, and strawberries. tanakafarms.com
  4. 1977From 1977 to the 1990s, Farmer Tanaka grows wholesale tomatoes and strawberries, reaching up to 300 acres and starting his own packing and distribution across the country. tanakafarms.com
  5. 1996In 1996 Strawberry Farms Golf Course took 70 acres of the land and left the remaining 30 acres to the City of Irvine. tanakafarms.com
  6. 1998In 1998, Farmer Tanaka moved his farming operation from Irvine Center Drive and Bake Parkway in Irvine, after land development forced them to move to its current location on Strawberry Farms Road, and began the transformation away from wholesale farming to responsible farming techniques and agritourism. tanakafarms.com
  7. 2003In 2003 the popularity of the Strawberry Tours skyrocketed from a few hundred visitors to thousands. tanakafarms.com
  8. 2011Walk the Farm, an ambitious annual event, began as a fundraiser to help Japanese farmers who were devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tōhoku region of Japan in 2011. discovernikkei.org

People

  • Glenn Tanaka, Sansei, current owner of Tanaka Farms (born 1957).
  • Takeo Tanaka, immigrated to California from Hiroshima, Japan; the family farming history dates back to him (early 1900s).
  • Kenny Tanaka, accepted the Irvine Wall of Recognition honor on behalf of his family.
  • Farmer Grandpa George, Nisei son of Takeo; farmed tomatoes, vegetables, and strawberries in Fountain Valley (born 1922).
  • Farmer Kenny, Yonsei, fourth generation Japanese American; son of Farmer Tanaka and Shirley (born 1983).
  • Shirley, wife of Farmer Tanaka; grew up in a farming family in Riverside.

Sources

  1. tanakafarms.com
  2. tanakafarms.com/pages/produce-market-stand
  3. tanakafarms.com/pages/farm-faqs
  4. tanakafarms.com/pages/contact
  5. facebook.com/tanakafarms
  6. tanakafarms.com/pages/our-story
  7. rafu.com/2026/07/tanaka-farms-among-new-honorees-on-irvines-wall-of-recognition
  8. latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-11-me-peeled11-story.html
  9. discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2025/7/3/tanaka-farms