Coral outcropping at proposed Milani Park — an out-of-the-way lure for snorkelers — once attracted Japanese settlers, indigenous tribes Japanese settlers of Yamato Colony shown circa 1922 at Yamato Rock, once known as ’Jap Rock.’ It was a hub for the colony’s social gatherings and fishing. Photos provided by Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
By Rich Pollack
For the Japanese farmers who settled the Yamato Colony in Boca Raton during the early 1900s, the area surrounding what is now known as Yamato Rock was an oasis of sorts.
With their village centered near the railroad tracks and present-day Yamato Road, colony members often trekked by foot or by boat, by horse-drawn wagon or car or motorcycle, to fish from the coral outcropping or for community gatherings, picnics and celebrations.
“It was the primary recreational community space,” said Larry Rosensweig, founding director of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach.
The area that had been described as remote — sprinkled with saw palmettos and pine trees amid its sugar sand during the early part of the 20th century — is now known for its near-shore snorkeling and fishing opportunities. It has been placed in the spotlight as Palm Beach County continues its plans to develop Milani Park there, which would make the area more accessible to visitors.
The controversial park, which has drawn opposition from Highland Beach residents for decades, would envelop the beach and dune areas adjacent to Yamato Rock — named “Jap Rock” until 2006 — as well as a parcel on the west side of State Road A1A at the south end of the town.
Oscar Kobayashi circa the 1920s. The Yamato Roack area is being considered for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
Historical significance
The county is hoping to add the proposed site to the National Register of Historic Places because of its link to the Yamato Colony and its inclusion of a Native American burial ground believed to be more than 1,000 years old. The county has submitted a nomination that is being considered.
Rosensweig and others who have studied the Yamato Colony say the site is the last undeveloped parcel that can be linked to the Japanese farmers.
The area near the railroad tracks that was known as Yamato Village, the hub of the community, is now the site of office buildings, retail shops and condominiums.
Photos of the colony members on the beach and recollections from the farmers and their families help provide the documentation of the parcel’s historic significance.
“It’s one of the few pieces of concrete evidence we have left,” says Carla Stansifer, curator of Japanese art at the Morikami. “It’s an important part of history.”
Through diaries and interviews with descendants of colony members, historians and researchers have been able to understand the important role the area played in life there.
“The Yamato Colony’s roots can best be traced back to Jo Sakai, a U.S.-educated Japanese entrepreneur who was looking to establish an agricultural community in Florida,” said Susan Gillis, the curator at the Boca Raton Historical Society. “He came to Boca Raton in 1903 and liked what he saw.”
The colony's roots go back to 1905 and it had its heyday in the 1920s. Stansifer thinks the colony members may have been attracted to the coastal area because of its appearance.
“It’s very much like the coastline of Japan,” she said of the coral outcropping. “They may have thought ‘this looks familiar, it looks very homey.’”
Men celebrate a good harvest at the mound, circa 1916. The mound, as the early Yamato colonists called it, is the Native American burial mound near Yamato Rock.
Source of sustenance
Yamato Rock became a prime fishing ground that served as a food source for sharing among members of the colony.
“Some of the men would go and fish and what they caught they brought back for dinner with the whole community,” Stansifer said.
In his book The Amazing Story of Highland Beach, author Sandy Simon includes a description from Tomiko Kobayashi, who was a member of the colony, of what it was like during the Great Depression and how important fishing at the rock was at the time.
“Nobody had any money and nobody could get a job,” Simon quoted Kobayashi as saying. “All we could do was work in the fields and since it was too hot to grow anything during the summer we would go over to Yamato Rocks to the beach and fish for food. There were lots of fish there and it was much cooler.”
During a presentation at the Delray Beach Historical Society in July, Bryan Davis, a principal planner with Palm Beach County, said that fishing is discussed prominently in diaries and oral histories. Among the fish caught from the rock or surrounding area were bluefish, pompano and cubera snapper, he said.
Oscar Kobayashi with a large snook he caught near Yamato Rock.
Place for celebrations
Besides fishing, the beach area near Yamato Rock was important for weekend picnics and special occasions, including a New Year’s celebration.
Photos from members of the colony show gatherings on the Native American mound, and Simon, in his book, quotes locals as recalling groups of Japanese families getting together there on the weekends.
“It was an important place for the community to gather,” Stansifer said.
Rosensweig said the area's preservation is important due to the evidence there of Native Americans and the history of the Yamato Colony members.
“It’s one of the last remaining examples on the South Florida coast of the continuum of human existence,” he said.
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