Glover House

The Former Glover House is preserved inside Glover Garden, one of Nagasaki’s historic foreign residential districts that emerged in the city that served as Japan’s gateway during the isolation era, where many foreign merchants from Europe, China, and elsewhere arrived from the late 16th century onward. In Glover Garden, three buildings—the Former Glover House, the Former Alt House, and the Former Ringer House—are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, and among them the Former Glover House is also registered as a component property of the World Heritage site “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining.” Glover supported the construction and commercialization of projects such as the Kosuge Slip Dock and the Takashima coal mine, and later also advised Mitsubishi, contributing greatly to the modernization of coal and shipbuilding—key industries of Japan at the time. The residence where Glover lived is preserved in Glover Garden. This single-story home has a blue-accented exterior and blends Western style with touches of Japanese aesthetics. In the stone-paved garden, tulips are planted, and in spring they bloom in a colorful display. Access to the Former Glover House by public transportation is from JR Nagasaki Station: take Tram Line 1 bound for Shofukuji, transfer at “Shinchi Chinatown” to Line 5 bound for Ishibashi, get off at “Oura Cathedral,” then walk about 7 minutes. By car, exit the Kyushu Cross-Island Expressway at “Nagasaki Mangatsuka IC,” then travel via the Nagasaki Oita Line, Nagasaki Expressway, Nagasaki Dejima Road, and National Route 324 for about 9 km, taking roughly 10 minutes. The Former Glover House is inside Glover Garden.