Yamato Colony, Florida

The Yamato Colony was an attempt to create a community of Japanese farmers in what is now Boca Raton, Florida, early in the 20th century.

"[1] Because of various difficulties, including blight, the colony never grew very large, and gradually declined until it was finally dispersed during World War II.

Sakai purchased 1,000 acres (4 km2) from the Model Land Company, and recruited young men from his hometown of Miyazu, Japan, to settle there.

Several hundred settlers grew pineapples, which were shipped from the Yamato station on the Florida East Coast Railway.

The remnants of the colony were dispossessed after the entry of the United States into World War II, when their land was purchased to create a U.S. Army Air Corps training base (now the site of Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Airport).