death_date death_place birth_place birth_date image article_title name
1976 delray beach , florida miyazu , japan 1887 george_morikami . xcf george morikami
 george morikami
george morikami

george sukeji morikami -lrb- 1887 -- 1976 -rrb- was a japanese immigrant to the united states who farmed in palm beach county , florida for more than 65 years .
he donated his 200 acres -lrb- 80 hectares -rrb- of farm land to palm beach county in 1973 .
george morikami was born in miyazu , japan .
he was 19 years old when he emigrated to the united states in 1906 to join the yamato colony , a japanese farming community in what is now boca raton , florida .
in return for his passage to america and spending money , george morikami was indentured for three years .
he was to receive $ 500 and some land at the end of the three years .
he intended to take the money and return to japan .
however , morikami 's sponsor died in 1906 , and he did not receive any cash or land , and was unable to return to japan .
although the yamato colony ultimately failed , george morikami stayed on and eventually prospered .
he and other remaining yamato colonists had their land seized by the united states as the u.s. entered world war ii , when their land was taken to create an army air corps training base -lrb- see also : boca raton airport -rrb- .
near the end of the war , george morikami bought land in delray beach , florida , and farmed it for almost thirty years .
he died at age 89 in 1976 , a year after the groundbreaking for morikami park , a county park built on the land he donated to palm beach county .
his ashes were eventually returned to miyazu .
there is a monument to him in the japanese gardens in the park .
delray beach is a sister city to miyazu in honor of george morikami .
