| Japan |
Page 1 of 2  Scottish World Tartan Register No. 4072 Within two years he had set up his own business, and in 1863 built ‘Glover House’ overlooking Nagasaki harbour, the oldest western-style building in Japan, which today attracts two million visitors a year. However, it was the influence of Glover’s technical know-how in shipbuilding and mining which brought him to prominence and allowed him to develop strong links with samurai clans. He helped them to overturn their military shogun and restore the Emperor to the throne and, under the Meiji Restoration Glover constructed the first shipyard in Japan, later to become the industrial giant Mitsubishi. He introduced the first railway and constructed and owned the first mechanically-operated coalmine. Nicknamed ‘the Scottish Samurai’, and still revered to this day as a national hero in his adopted country, Glover was not only the first to introduce western technology to Japan, but became the first non-Japanese to receive the country’s highest honour – The Order of the Rising Sun. In 1867 this astonishingly influential character married a young Japanese woman - Tsuru - who for political reasons had been forced to divorce her first husband and abandon her baby daughter. Tsuru’s nickname was ‘Ocho-san’ from the butterfly motif on her kimono, and it was this poignant story that provided the author James Luther Long with the inspiration for the creation of his story of ‘Madame Butterfly’ which Puccini later turned into the world-famous opera. The mutual admiration between Scotland and Japan which Glover first generated is reflected today in the mutual interest in our respective cultures. The creation of the Japanese tartan symbolises a natural continuation of that interest. The Japanese tartan combines the colours of the Scottish Saltire with those of the Japanese National Flag. The tartan for all Japanese and visitors to Japan. Commissioned by Eric Melvin of Edinburgh, a retired head teacher whose two sons work in Japan. It seemed like the easiest way to get suitable gifts to take with us. Associated LinksTartans Scotland Online Tartan Guide (external link) |
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Tartan Facts & Snippets
| Scots troops in the First World War trenches intimidated Germans so much they were nicknamed "ladies from Hell", because of their kilts - and their ferocious resistance. |