Glover Garden

In detail

Glover Garden was opened on September 4, 1974, as a collection of Meiji-era (1868–1912) buildings that were owned by some of Nagasaki’s most influential people and institutions. To build the garden, a number of other Western-style buildings were relocated to join the three original mansions on the Minamiyamate hillside, which had been designated Important Cultural Properties: the Former Glover House in 1961, the Former Ringer House in 1966, and the Former Alt House in 1972. To encourage visitors, the city installed gardens, walkways, and murals, and even built an inclined elevator to carry visitors up the steep hill.

Now partially occupied by Glover Garden, the Minamiyamate hillside was originally home to many of the leaders of the Nagasaki Foreign Settlement, including Thomas B. Glover (1838–1911), for whom the garden is named. Glover was a Scottish merchant who came to Japan in 1859 and found great success in the modernizing country. In 2015, the Former Glover House was designated a World Heritage Site as part of the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining, in recognition of Glover’s personal connections and contributions to Japan’s modernization.