In 1904, Jo Sakai, a recent graduate of New York University, returned to his homeland of Miyazu Japan, to organize a group of pioneering farmers and lead them to what is now northern Boca Raton. The small band of Japanese farmers did not ever meet their goals and the Yamato Colony of 30-35 individuals surrendered their dream. Only one individual, George Sukeji Morikami remained. He had a great talent for raising plants. His crops were always the biggest, the sweetest etc. In the mid-1970’s when George was in his 80s, he donated his land to Palm Beach County with the wish to preserve it as a park and to honor the memory of the Yamato Colony. Since its opening in 1977, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens has been a center for Japanese arts and culture
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