Thomas Blake Glover
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Thomas Blake Glover (June 6, 1838 – December 13, 1911) was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and Meiji Japan, and he is justly revered in that country for his many contributions to its modernisation. The late Sir Peter Parker once hailed him as an all-round "trader through 360 degrees".
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[edit] Early life (1838–1858)
Thomas Glover was born – appropriately for a merchant – at 15 Commerce Street, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire in north east Scotland on June 6, 1838, moving to Bridge of Don, near Aberdeen six years later. His father worked for the coast guard. Upon leaving school, Glover entered into employment with a trading company and travelled widely.
[edit] Japan (1859–1911)
In 1859, Glover crossed from Shanghai to Nagasaki and worked initially for Jardine Matheson buying Japanese green tea. Two years later, he founded his own firm, Glover Trading Co. (Guraba-Shokai). His first major success was as a merchant for ships, guns and gunpowder sold to the rebellious Satsuma, Chōshū and Tosa clans in Japan during the 1860s. His business was based in Nagasaki, and it was here that he had his home constructed, the first western-style building in Japan.
In 1863, Glover helped the Chōshū Five get to London on Jardine Matheson ships. He was also responsible in 1865 for bringing the first steam railway locomotive called "Iron Duke" to Japan which he demonstrated on a short track at Oura in Nagasaki.
Glover assisted in toppling the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Meiji Restoration and as such, had cordial relations with the new government. These links led to his being responsible for commissioning one of the first warships in the Imperial Japanese Navy (the Jho Sho Maru, later Ryūjō Maru) which was built by Alexander Hall & Co. in Aberdeen and launched on March 27, 1869. Glover also commissioned the smaller Ho Sho Maru for the navy and the Kagoshima for the Satsuma clan from the same Aberdeen shipyard.
In 1868, Glover made a contract with the Hizen (Saga) clan and began to develop Japan's first coal mine at Takashima. He also brought the first dry dock to Japan.
Thomas Glover went bankrupt in 1870, but he stayed in Japan to manage the Takashima coal mine after the Restoration for the mine's Dutch owners until it was taken over by the Meiji government. In 1881, the mine was acquired by Iwasaki Yataro.
Glover was a key figure in the industrialisation of Japan, founding a shipbuilding company, which was later to become the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. He also helped found the Japan Brewery Company, which later became the major Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd. It is rumoured that the moustache of the mythical creature featured on Kirin beer labels is in fact a tribute to Glover (who sported a similar moustache) [1].
In recognition of these achievements, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (second class), the first non-Japanese to receive such an honour.
Thomas Glover died at his home in Tokyo, but was buried at the Sakamoto International Cemetery in Nagasaki.
[edit] Family
Glover's Japanese wife Tsuru is said to have been the inspiration behind the libretto for Giacomo Puccini's opera, Madama Butterfly. Their son, Kuraba Tomisaburo (倉場富三郎), was imprisoned as a spy during World War II in Nagasaki and committed suicide just after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ended World War II in 1945.
Tomisaburo was actually the son of one of Glover's mistresses, a geisha girl called Kaga Maki. When he was adopted by Glover and his wife, Kaga Maki attempted suicide, causing a local scandal.
Many theories have been expounded regarding the relationships of Thomas Glover with Tsuru and Kaga Maki and the possible link with the inspiration for Madame Butterfly. None of these have been proved. Nevertheless Glover's residence in Nagasaki was for many years known as the House of Madame Butterfly, and a bust of Puccini can be found in the garden.
[edit] Residences
Glover's former residences in Nagasaki and Aberdeen have both since been turned into museums, with the beautifully situated Glover Garden (グラバー園) house in Nagasaki attracting over one million visitors each year. He also had a residence in the Shiba Park area of Tokyo.
Glover's family home in Scotland, Glover House, 79 Balgownie Road, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen is now open to the public as a restored Victorian house, telling the Glover story. The house is also available as a venue for business meetings, small private functions and group tours. The home where he was born in Fraserburgh was destroyed by World War II bombing although a blue plaque marks the site of his birth.
The following is from * [2]:
quote
The same year as the bankruptcy of Glover & Co., Thomas Glover's Japanese wife gave birth to a baby boy. The boy attended the Nagasaki mission school Chinzei Gakuin, where he was one of the school's first pupils, and moved on later to Gakushuin in Tokyo. From 1888 to 1892 he studied biology at the Ohio Wesleyan University and the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to Nagasaki in 1892 and took up a position with the British firm Holme Ringer & Co., later acquiring Japanese citizenship and assuming the legal name "Kuraba Tomisaburo."
In 1909, Kuraba Tomisaburo moved into the Glover House (it had been rented to other foreign residents until then) with his wife Waka and became its sole owner two years later when his father died in Tokyo. The couple, who were never blessed with children, lived in the house over the following decades and enjoyed an important role in the economic and social life of the city. One of Tomisaburo's important achievements was the establishment of the Nagasaki Steamship Fisheries Co. and the introduction of Japan's first [[steam trawlers]], which brought about a revolution in the Japanese fishing industry. Through his efforts、 Nagasaki Prefecture became and remains the foremost fishing prefecture in Japan.
With his many connections on both sides of the language barrier, Tomisaburo also made great efforts to enhance international exchange and understanding and to promote Nagasaki both as a business center and tourist destination. He was a key figure in the establishment of the Nagasaki Naigai Club and in efforts to promote the designation of Unzen as one of Japan's first national parks.
One of Kuraba Tomisaburo's most illustrious and enduring achievements was the compilation of the "Glover Fish Atlas," a collection of 823 precise watercolor illustrations of marine species found in southwestern Japan. This project, which stemmed from Tomisaburo's lifelong interest in biology, took more than 20 years of effort by several local artists. The atlas is preserved today in the Nagasaki University Library and remains one of Japan's three most important fish atlases.
But despite Tomisaburo's efforts at international understanding, the rising tide of militarism and Japan's increasing animosity toward the United States and Britain in the early [[Showa Period]] cast a dark shadow on Nagasaki and particularly on people with foreign connections. Finally in 1939, Tomisaburo and Waka were forced to sell the Glover House to Mitsubishi Co. because it commanded a clear view of the building berth where the battleship Musashi was taking shape. After that the couple lived in the house at No.9 Minamiyamate, enduring harassment from the Kempeitai and cutting off most of their social contacts. Waka died in 1943, leaving Tomisaburo alone.
Kuraba Tomisaburo was in his house in Minamiyamate on August 9, 1945 when an atomic bomb exploded over the northern part of Nagasaki. If the unrelenting harassment and suspicion of being an American spy as accused by the Kempetai wasn't enough, he was then accused by the American occupation intelligence of acting as a spy for the Japanese just days after the Japanese surrender on 14th August 1945. Having lost everything including his wife and friends and with no one left that he could trust or that trusted him, on August 26, 1945, Kuraba Tomisaburo committed suicide in the Minamiyamate house, severing the connection between the Glover family and Nagasaki. He was 75 years old at the time.
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[edit] See also
- Richard Henry Brunton, another Scotsman who made a major impact in 19th century Japan
- Joseph Henry Longford was a friend of Glover
- Ernest Satow
- Alexander Cameron Sim
- Henry Dyer
[edit] References
- Scottish Samurai: The Life of Thomas Blake Glover by Alexander McKay (Canongate Books, 1993) ISBN 0-86241-455-5 (Japanese translation 1997, ISBN 4-12-002652-3)
- Meiji Kenkoku no Youshou: To-masu B Guraba- no Shimatsu, H. Naito 2001 ISBN 4-87152-214-8
- The Pure Land by Alan Spence (Canongate Books, 2006) ISBN 1841958557 (A historical novel based on the life of Thomas Blake Glover) Canongate
[edit] External links
- Thomas Blake Glover
- Famous Scots
- Glover Garden (Japanese language). English language page: Glover Garden
- Image of the Jho Sho Maru
