Blog Memories: Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

December 31, 2019

Blog Memories: Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

I hope you all have a very safe and festive New Year's Eve. Enjoy this encore post from January 9, 2018. I look forward to another great year ahead.

If you’re ever in or near South Florida and want to visit a most invigorating and inspiring garden and museum complex, I encourage you to make a stop at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach - they’re simply exquisite.

During the holidays, I spent several days in Palm Beach with my friend, Lisbeth Barron. Lisbeth arranged a selection of tours and activities for us including a walk around Morikami. Its museum galleries feature different aspects of Japan’s rich and diverse culture. Among the current exhibits, we saw “Out of the Blue: Japanese Indigo Textiles”, which runs through January 21st. Morikami’s Gardens, named Roji-en: Garden of the Drops of Dew, were designed to complement the museum. The six distinct garden spaces are inspired by some of Japan's historic gardens and are all beautifully and meticulously planted and maintained.

Here are some photos from our visit, enjoy. Over the next few days, I will share many images from my New Year's trip to Palm Beach - you'll love them.

: The Morimaki park and museum are named after Japanese farmer, George Morikami, a native of Miyazu, Japan, who donated his farm to Palm Beach County in hopes of preserving the memory of his Japanese homeland, and the farming colony he helped to develop here in the United States in the 1900s.

: There is a room dedicated to the history of George Morikami and the group of young Japanese farmers he joined to form the agricultural colony they called Yamato, an ancient name for Japan.

: In the end, the colony’s farming endeavors were unsustainable, forcing almost all members of the original colony to return home to Japan – George Morikami was among the last remaining settlers.

: The Gardens were designed by the award-winning landscape master, Hoichi Kurisu, who wanted to “capture that beauty forever in people’s minds and hearts.”

: These are the back terraces of the Gardens.

: Here is a view of the James and Hazel Gates Woodruff Memorial Bridge. This bridge marks the entrance to the Japanese Gardens.

: The Gardens provide many tranquil seating spaces for its visitors.

: This is a view from the Gardens to the Cornell Cafe, where they serve delicious Asian treats such as warm Miso soup and iced green tea.

: This is called Shishi Odoshi or “deer chaser”.

: Here is the Karesansui Late Rock Garden. Karesansui means “dry landscape.” In this garden, rocks are arranged in a bed of raked gravel. The style was perfected at Zen Buddhist temples.

: Here is the Early Rock Garden. These types of gardens were often inspired by Chinese landscape paintings that depicted water cascading from peaks into seas or lakes.

: A beautiful staghorn fern caught my eye – I love staghorn ferns and have a collection of my own at my Bedford, New York farm.

: I also loved this Japanese baby cherry blossom Sakura tree.

: And this is Hotei, the God of Happiness. Hotei has a cheerful face and a big belly. He carries a large cloth bag over his back – one that never empties. He uses it to feed the poor and needy.

: This is Yamato-Kan, Morikami’s original museum building.

: We also viewed the “Out of the Blue: Japanese Indigo Textiles” exhibit.

: Here is the entrance to the exhibit, which showcased the use of indigo dye, or aizome, in Japanese textiles and explained its long and cherished history in Japan.

: Here is a sample of the yarn that is used to make up the various textiles.

: This type of clothing would be worn by the samurai class – so full of rich colors. These suits would distinguish class and rank among soldiers. The indigo dyes used showed strength.

: Firemen wore thick, padded cloaks that protected them from the intense heat.

: Here is a photo of a firemen’s crew with their distinct clothing.

: I love some of the gorgeous use of blue shades in this robe. Firemen’s coats would sometimes use dynamic designs, like a uniform, which identified the men out in the field.

: The patterns and designs were so diverse.

: Here is a protective headpiece that was worn by the firemen.

: The ink dyes are so beautiful and so well preserved.

: In modest households, garments were often recycled. Precise stitches called sashiko strengthened the pieces and created beautiful designs.

: This is a quilted woman’s hat, c.1875.

: The yukata was an unlined cotton kimono worn during the warmer days of summer. They would be used instead of towels to cover the body until it was dry.

: Kimonos also came in a variety of beautiful designs.

: The blue inks are so deep – I love the detail work in this kimono.

: Here is another kimono with a more geometric style.

: The clothing was so nicely hung in rows on the wall to show all the detailed stitching.

: This is called a “futonji” – traditional Japanese bedding which consists of a mattress, a cover and enclosed in netting to protect sleepers from mosquitoes. The Japanese made the netting out of handspan, handwoven hemp often dyed in indigo.

: And this was a traditional way of wrapping gifts in Japan – using dyed pieces of fabric beautifully wrapped and knotted around the present being given.

: This shows a Seishin-an – The Grimes Foundation Tea House. The Seishin-an Tea House is designed to promote harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.