Thomas Blake Glover
1838-1911

In his native Northeast of Scotland Thomas Blake Glover is virtually unknown, however in his adopted country of Japan he is revered as a national hero - one of the founding fathers of modern Japan.

Thomas Blake Glover was born at 15 Commerce Street, Fraserburgh on June 6, 1838 and lived at the same address for the next six years. His father, an Englishman, had served as an officer in the Royal Navy, later becoming the Chief Coastguard in Fraserburgh, the Coastguard house stood just around the corner from the cottage in Commerce Street. Glover's mother was a Scot through-and-through, she was from Fordyce in Banffshire.

In 1851 the family moved to Bridge of Don, Aberdeen but Glover would soon move again. After leaving school he began working for a trading company and travelled the world. He was successful as a merchant trading in ships and weapons in Japan during the 1860's, at that time a politically unstable and violent corner of the world. He settled in Nagasaki, his house was built in 1863 and remains the oldest western style building in Japan.
The battleship Mikasa in dock. Like much of the Japanese navy by the end of the 19th century she had been built in Britain.

Glover became a prominent individual and helped the samurai to topple their military leader, the Shogun, restoring the Emperor to his throne. At this time he helped in the industrialisation of Japan.
He was responsible for commissioning three warships for the Japanese navy from Aberdeen shipyards, subsequently he established his own shipbuilding company which later grew into the industrial giant Mitsubishi. He was responsible for introducing the first railway locomotive into Japan as well as establishing the country's first mechanised coal mine. He also organised the education of many young Japanese abroad, mostly in Britain.

Glover married a woman called Tsura, the daughter of a samurai, who many believe was the inspiration for Puccini's opera - Madame Butterfly, since she habitually wore the emblem of a butterfly on her clothes.

Glover was not only the first to introduce much western technology to Japan but was also the first non-Japanese to be presented with the Order of the Rising Sun - one of the country's top honours. He died in 1911, aged 73.

Glover's house in Nagasaki is now the centrepiece of "Glover Garden", Western Japan's top tourist attraction with almost 2 million visitors each year. The site of Glover's birth has not fared so well. During the Second World War the Luftwaffe scored a direct hit on 15 Commerce Street - the site to this day remains empty, although plans have been put forward to rebuilt the cottage at a cost of £375,000 and turning it into a tourist attraction.

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