Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

Distributed by University Press of Florida on behalf of Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.

A vibrant celebration of Japanese culture in America, showcasing the archives, collections, and gardens of a museum that preserves a century-old connection between Japan and South Florida

At first glance, a world-class Japanese museum and gardens flourishing in the heart of south Florida seems improbable, but its origins are deeply rooted in human determination and in the story of Japanese settlers who crossed an ocean in the early 1900s seeking a new life. Their legacy transformed the landscape of Delray Beach forever.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens preserves the history of the settlers who arrived on American shores and built a community from the ground up, through to the founding of one of the most distinctive cultural institutions in the United States. Drawn from the museum archives, rare historical photographs bring individual stories into focus and highlight important moments that have made the museum such a distinctive site in South Florida.

Next, the Museum’s collection of more than 8,000 objects—ranging from the 3rd century BCE to contemporary works—is showcased in full color, illuminating the extraordinary breadth and depth of Japanese art, craft, and material. And through the fine art photography of Elizabeth Sanjuan, readers are invited into an intimate tour of six distinct gardens, each arranged to trace the evolution of Japanese garden design from the 8th century to the present day.

As the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens looks ahead to its next fifty years, this volume also explores the institution’s vision for the future and why the preservation of Japanese culture in America remains as vital and resonant today as it was for the settlers a century ago.