May is National Asian-American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. If you are in Palm Beach County, Florida, where our digital marketing agency is based, you are in luck. You can celebrate by visiting the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach.
The History of the Morikami
The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens are located on land that was donated to Palm Beach County by George Sukeji Morikami, one of the last remaining members of a group of Japanese settlers who established an agricultural community they called the Yamato Colony.
The history of the colony goes back to 1904. That’s when Jo Sakai, who had graduated from New York University, came up with the idea of creating a colony. His goal was to revolutionize agriculture. After graduating, he went back to Japan to recruit farmers who were willing to join him in his ambitious goal.
They named their colony Yamato, which is an ancient name for Japan. At its height, the colony was composed of 30 to 35 farmers. Unfortunately, the bold experiment produced only disappointing results. As the dream of revolutionizing agriculture faded away, the families who made up the Yamato Colony began to leave. During the 1920s, some settled in other parts of the U.S., others returned to Japan.
Visiting the Morikami
The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens opened in 1977 and has become a vibrant center for Japanese arts and culture in South Florida. Visitors can enjoy a lineup of traveling exhibitions in the museum. The intricate and beautiful Japanese tea ceremony is performed monthly during the season (October through May). The Morikami also hosts a variety of traditional Japanese festivals throughout the year.
The gardens, however, are the big draw. There are six distinct gardens, each inspired by a famous garden in Japan.
Members of the creative team at SEO James, an online marketing company known for customizing search engine optimization strategies to fit the unique needs of small businesses, have wandered the paths through the gardens and have found inspiration of their own – in the peaceful design of the gardens and in the beauty of nature.
