Yamato Colony, Florida

The Yamato Colony was an attempt to create a community of Japanese farmers in South Florida early in the 20th Century. With encouragement from Florida authorities, people from Miyazu, Japan, mostly young men, were recruited to settle in what is now Boca Raton, Florida. The colony never grew very large, and many of the settlers returned to Japan or moved elsewhere in the United States. The remnants of the colony were dispossessed after the entry of the United States into World War II, when their land was taken to create the Boca Raton Army Air Base (now the site of Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Airport). The only member of the Yamato Colony to stay in the area was George Morikami, who continued to farm in Delray Beach, Florida until the 1970s, when he donated his farmland to Palm Beach County to preserve it as a park, and to honor the memory of the Yamato Colony.

The Yamato Colony is remembered today in Yamato Road, a major street in Boca Raton, Florida and in Morikami Park. The City of Delray Beach, Florida is a Sister City with Miyazu, Japan, in honor of George Morikami.

External links

• http://www.morikami.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=YamatoColony History of Yamato Colony