08/21/2026
Today marks the 103rd anniversary of Jo Sakai's passing🕊️🎋
In honor and remembrance of the Sakai and Kamiya families, who helped establish the Yamato Colony and its legacy, Morikami staff visited the neighboring gravesites this August. Part of Obon, Ohakamairi, or the act of visiting a grave, is an important part of Japanese culture and a way to remember loved ones who have passed. The grave is cleaned, and offerings of incense, seasonal fruits, and flowers are presented.
Who was Jo Sakai? Jo Sakai, founder of the Yamato Colony, was born October 7, 1874, in Miyazu, Japan. Given the name Kamosu, he was the fourth of seven children in a former samurai household. He traveled to the United States in 1895 after completing the equivalent of a high school education in Japan. He later enrolled at NYU where he graduated in 1903 from the School of Commerce. After graduating, he had a grand idea to start a Japanese agricultural colony in the US, with one of the potential spots being in Florida.
After visiting Florida in 1903, he returned to Japan the following year to recruit settlers and investors for his colony project- one of them being George Morikami. He established the Yamato Colony in early summer 1905 and promoted the effort tirelessly for the rest of his life. Sadly, on August 21, 1923, he died of tuberculosis in Asheville, North Carolina, where he had gone to a sanatorium for treatment of his illness. He was 48 years old.
This gravestone honors both Jo Sakai and Hiroshi Sakai, the first child born in the colony, Jo Sakai’s son, who passed before the age of two. For more information about the Sakai Family and the history of the Yamato Colony, please visit our website.
