The Scottish Samurai

In Medieval Japan there was as little as a razor-thin space between the sword of a samurai and the throat of a ‘barbarian’ (foreigner). Yet, a Westerner, Thomas Blake Glover, a Scotsman from Aberdeen was instrumental in the political machinations that brought down the Shogun regime and ushered the country into modernization. Glover arrived in Japan in 1859, soon after the country opened the port of Nagasaki for international trade. An employee of the British multinational trading house, Jardine Matheson & Co., Glover was just 21 years old. His knowledge of Japan verged to none, but he was armed with vision, a staunch determination, and willing to work with the inequalities, rather than fighting them.

The humiliating-unequal treaty signed by the Bakufu (shogunate) and the US, and subsequent inflow of foreigners (US, UK, Russia, Netherlands) into the country was vehemently opposed in the samurai quarters. The fact that the Tokugawa Shogunate was powerless against foreigners, whom they called ‘barbarians’, despite the will expressed by the Imperial court was taken as evidence by anti-Tokugawa leaders that the Shogunate must be replaced by a government more able to show its loyalty to the Emperor. The internal hostility materialised into a radical movement, the Sonnō-jōi (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians). Sonnō-jōi was thus adopted as the battle cry by the rebellious regions of Chōshū Domain (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Satsuma Province (the western half of the Kagoshima Prefecture).

Thomas Glover troiled to learn his craft. In just 2 years after his arrival in Japan, he became a sort of mini-celebrity in Nagasaki. With a sharp nose for business, his newly founded company (Glover Shokai) was making high profits in tea refring, real states, and silk trading. He was befriended by the key-players of Choshu and Satsuma, samurai Hirobumi Ito and Tomoatsu Godai, the firebrands who wanted to topple the shogun. Glover smuggled huge quantities of fire guns and warships into the country and sold them to the rebels.

16 of the 19 escapee students of Satsuma, later known as the 'Satsuma 19'

In 1865, Glover helped 19 students of Satsuma to escape Japan and travel to Europe disguised as Chinese sailors. They spent most of their time in the UK, where they learned Western technology and studied at the University College of London (UCL). Some became militiamen of the Royal Military Academy in order to absorb the principles of fortification and battery construction. Tomoatsu Godai stood as one of the leaders and purchased machinery and equipments in Manchester to built a modern mill in Satsuma.

Glover went bankrupt in 1870. Takashima ownership was handed to his main creditor, NTS, a Dutch company. Yet Glover stayed as the manager of the colliery until his debts were paid off. The Meiji Government confiscated the assets of the defunct-domains, but in 1881, the mine was acquired by Iwasaki Yatarō, the founder of the Mitsubishi Company. Visionary Iwasaki employed Glover and his skills helped Mitsubishi to become the largest conglomerate of the country. The Scotsman also established the Japan Brewery Company, which later became the giant Kirin Brewery Company.

Glover married a Japanese woman, Tsuru Awajiwa and they had one daughter, Hana. They also adopted Tomisaburo, a son he produced from a previous relationship. In 1908 he was decorated by Meiji Emperor with the Order of the Rising Sun. He was the first foreigner in Japanese history to be awarded this merit. He died in 1911 aged 73, in his adopted country of Japan. Ipponmatsu, his former house in Nagasaki was acquired by the local government and became one of the city's main tourist attractions.