Two-Minute Masterpiece: Meet the Scottish Samurai who helped build modern Japan

Discover the fascinating story of the north-east’s own Scottish Samurai, Thomas Blake Glover, who helped lay the foundations of modern Japan.

Born in Fraserburgh and educated in Aberdeen, the industrialist arrived in Nagasaki just as Japan was ending centuries of isolation. It was a time of turmoil, but Glover became a force for modernisation and change and is still revered in Japan to this day.

In this Two-Minute Masterpiece, Kirstin Angus, a museum assistant with Aberdeen Archive, Art Gallery and Museums, reveals the story of the Scottish Samurai who is celebrated in a display at the Aberdeen Maritime Museum.

Two-Minute Masterpiece is a series featuring the north-east’s art treasures. Telling the stories of these works – and sharing their love for them – will be the people who see them every day, the staff at the galleries or museums where they are held.

You might also like… 

• Two-Minute Masterpiece: Discover the history of Provost Skene’s House
• Two-Minute Masterpiece: Remarkable story of the Star of Tasmania
• Two-Minute Masterpiece: Remembering Queen Victoria’s first visit to Aberdeen