Glover Garden
グラバー園
A cluster of Western-style villas on the Minamiyamate hillside, including the Old Glover House, Japan's oldest surviving wooden Western-style building, with views over Nagasaki Harbour.
Glover Garden is on the hillside of Minamiyamate and gathers Western residences built by foreign merchants from the late Edo to the Meiji period. Its centrepiece is the former residence of Scottish merchant Thomas Glover, built in 1863. It is Japan's oldest surviving wooden Western-style building. Together with the former Ringer House and the former Alt House, it is designated an Important Cultural Property of the nation, and the former Glover House is also a component asset of the World Heritage site “Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution.” The garden is lush with flowers and trees, and the views from its heights over Nagasaki Harbour and Mount Inasa are excellent. The garden also has statues related to the opera Madame Butterfly and a heart-shaped stone slab, said to bring good luck to whoever finds it. Admission for adults is about JPY 620. It is generally open 08:00–18:00, with hours extended into the evening in some seasons, such as summer. Recommended route: take the tram to the Oura Church stop, visit Oura Church first, then enter Glover Garden from the side entrance and walk downhill. The exit is near the former Confucius Temple and Dutch Slope. Alternatively, take the Glover Sky Road inclined elevator from the Ishibashi stop to the upper entrance, avoiding the uphill climb.
Opening hours
08:00–18:00 (seasonally extended evening hours)
Nearby sights
- Oura Church
- Nagasaki Confucius Shrine
- Mount Nabekanmuri Park
- Dutch Slope & Higashi-Yamate Western Houses
- Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum & Mizubenomori Park
- Tojin Yashiki Site
- Dejima
- Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown