Morikami Museum and Gardens
In 1905 Joe Sakai led a group of Japanese pioneers looking for
a future in the US. This group landed in the DelRay Beach area
of Florida and became known as the Yamato colony. Farming in south
Florida in the early nineteen hundreds was very difficult. The members
of the colony moved back to Japan or to more suitable parts of the United States.
One of the only remaining members of that party was George Morikami.
He worked the land and eventually owned several hundred acres, upon his
death in the mid-1970s he left the land the the county to be used to preserve the
history of his family and other Japanese people and customs that were
alive and well in the United States. What he left is the Morikami Museum and Gardens.
One of the only historic Japanese gardens in the US, the Morikami
applies Japanese design principles throughout the 200 acres making it
a spectacular garden. The Japanese design their gardens for calming
the mind and the body. The morikami achieves this with six different
Japanese gardens (zen gardens, rock gardens, etc.), tranquil pine forests,
nature trails, waterfalls, shaded pavillions and a world-class bonsai collection.
The Morikami Museum always features new exhibits rich in Japanese culture.
The annual events at the Morikami are exceptional, these include the
Hatsume/Spring Festival, Oshogatsu/New Year, Kodomd-No-Hi/Children's Day,
and Obon/Summer Festival. These festivals let visitors experience and participate
in many different areas of Japanese culture.
- Address: 4000 Morikami Park Rd, Delray Beach, Fl
- Hours of operation: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm
- Admission: $8.00/5.00 adults/children & college students (with ID)
- Contact information: (561)495.0233
- www.morikami.org
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