I finally got a chance to visit the Morikami in Delray Beach, Florida.

The gardens are named after Sukeji “George” Morikami a Japanese immigrant who arrived in the U.S. on May 3rd, 1906, to live in the Yamato Colony. It was called Yamato after the ancient name for Japan.

Immigrants were encouraged to come to the area by investors like Henry Flagler, with the help of The Florida Bureau of Immigration, to start farming the land and create economic activity. The farmers were primarily groeing pineapples but blight destroyed the crop in 1908 and they found it difficult to compete with Cuba’s cheaper pineapple imports. The community eventually failed and the land was seized by the U.S., during WW2, to create an Army Air Corps training base and is now home to Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Airport. Morikami eventually purchased more land and farmed it for almost 30 years. In 1973 he donated his 200 acres of land to Palm Beach County to be used as a park. He died in 1976. A year before the Morikami opened.

The museum offers rotating exhibitions, on certain Saturdays there are tea ceremonies offered at the tea house, and the Food Network voted the Cornell Café one of the top three museum dining destinations. There are also lectures and annual festivals to enjoy.

But the main attraction is the gardens and the grounds.

The Museum is open Tuesday -Sunday 10am-5pm.

The Cornell Café Tuesday-Sun 11am-3pm

Closed on Mondays and major holidays.