Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens

On Wednesday, January 18, 2023, we drove up to Boca Raton to visit the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.  We had visited once before on a visit to Florida, but it was so many years ago that we had little memory of the Gardens.

The day was perfect for the visit -- warm but not too hot; partly sunny but with enough clouds to cut the heat of the sun.  It made the visit most enjoyable.

If there is one feature of the Gardens that is emblematic of their beauty, it would probably be Morikami Falls:

 

As with the other features in Japanese gardens, however, the visual beauty is only one dimension of the gardens' power.  The sounds, the air, the aromas, the humid smell of the plants, all contribute to the experience.   Thus, it is hard to understand how impressive the falls are just by seeing a photo.  This video shows the power conveyed by the rushing water of the falls. 

 Flowers were blooming in many parts of the Garden.  This was one:

 

 

While most of the Garden has been designed and constructed, there are many respects in which the Garden lets Nature express itself, such as this palm tree with ferns finding perches in the frond stubs:

 

 

Fish and turtles were introduced into the Garden, but, by now, the turtles have occupied their own natural niche in the ponds.

 

 

The current Museum building was constructed in 1993, but the original museum, Yamato-kan, built in 1977, still houses exhibits memorializing the Yamato Colony.   The Yamato Colony was an attempt to create a community of Japanese farmers in what is now Boca Raton, Florida, early in the 20th century. With encouragement from Florida authorities, young Japanese men were recruited to farm in the colony. There were as many as 75 Japanese men, some with their families, at the peak. Because of various difficulties, including blight, the colony never grew very large, and gradually declined until it was finally dispersed during World War II.  The only member of the Yamato Colony to stay in the area was George Morikami, who continued to farm in neighboring 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 old museum perches on Yamato Island, and just outside the building is a bonzai exhibit.  Below, Kathy poses with her favorite bonzai buddy:

 

 

The interior courtyard of the Yamato-kan is a classic Japanese garden itself:

 

 

At the entrance to the bridge to Yamato Island lounges Hotei, the Garden's resident god of happiness.  Also known as Budai, his jolly nature, humorous personality, and eccentric lifestyle distinguish him from most Buddhist masters or figures. He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, hence his nickname in Chinese, the "Laughing Buddha". As he is traditionally depicted as overweight and many stories surrounding Budai involve his love of food and drink, he is also referred to as the "Fat Buddha", especially in the Western world.

 

 

The historic gardens in the park are bounded by two gates:  the Kodai-mon, or Ancient Gate, which serves as the entrance to the historic gardens, and the Nan-mon, or South Gate, which serves as the exit:

 

 

One touching part of the Gardens is the Nelson Memorial Garden, which was originally designed by Norman Nelson and named Koro-en (Garden of Sparkling Dew). This garden memorializes Norman and his sons, Dan and Bob, all of whom tended Morikami’s landscaping and bonsai during the museum’s early years.  In the center stands Morikami's Peace Pole, which is inscribed with the words, "May peace reign in the world."

 

 

Within the Gardens are several formal gardens representing garden styles prevalent in different periods of Japanese history.  The garden below, known as the Hiraniwa Flat Garden, employs external scenic elements in the background to enhance its effects, in a technique known as "borrowed scenery":

 

 

Another formal garden is the Karesansui Late Rock Garden, in a style perfected in Zen Buddhist temples.  The name means "dry landscape" and the style incorporates rocks rather than plants:

 

 

One of the most entertaining features of the Gardens is the Shishi Odoshi, or Deer Chaser, which is designed to fill with, then empty of, water, thumping against rock and creating a loud sound intended to scare away wildlife. The Shishi Odoshi indeed makes a startling sound, as this video will show.

 

 

 More gorgeous flowers!

 

 

The ponds are full of koi and other fish, who seemed to congregate near us when we crossed a bridge, as if they were used to being fed:

 

 

Finishing our circuit of the Gardens, we returned to the main Museum.  Outside it, on the shore of the pond, sits the Chie no Wa Wisdom Ring, a replica of a 500 year old stone lantern.  The original at a temple dedicated to Monju, the Buddhist deity of wisdom.  This replica was donated by Delray Beach's sister city, Miyazu, to commemorate the Museum and Garden's 20th anniversary in 1997.

We finished our visit with a tasty lunch of Japanese Bento Boxes and Miso Soup, washed down by iced green tea -- this particular brand a type we love and haven't tasted since we were in China for our son's wedding in 2008.  What a wonderful way to finish our visit!