This article describes the foundation of a psychoanalytic institute in Japan and how its creation was based on the experience of training at the William Alanson White Institute. The process of starting a new institute is compared to the stages of growing plants, including planting seeds, sprouting, pruning, and transplanting. Creating an “ideal” institute requires a belief in education, the ability to find joy in relating to colleagues, and a capacity to deal with the evaluation process and with healthy tensions among subgroups.