South Nagasaki · MinamiyamateNo.744★★★Open in map →
Glover Garden
— Meiji-era Western houses on a harbour hillside
A hillside garden above Nagasaki harbour holding nine Western-style buildings from the treaty-port decades, three of them national Important Cultural Properties on their original sites. A lift carries you to the top, and the visit runs downhill from there.
- FromNagasaki Station
- ~25 minTram, one transfer
- Get off atOura Cathedral tram stop (Nagasaki Electric Tramway)
- From there
- Glover Garden
Where it is
20 more notes in Nagasaki · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Former Mitsubishi No.2 Dock Housea two-storey lodging for ship's officers, moved up from the shipyard and standing at the top of the slope
- Former Walker Housea relocated merchant's house on the upper terrace, its veranda turned toward the harbour
- Former Ringer Housestone and timber on its original plot, one of the three protected houses
- Former Alt Housea colonnaded front and a broad lawn, the grandest of the three
- Former Glover Housethe oldest house here, low and wide, built on a half-round plan around its veranda
How to actually get there
- Nagasaki Station-mae → Shinchi Chinatown (tram bound for Sofukuji, about 7 minutes).
- Shinchi Chinatown → Oura Cathedral (change to a tram bound for Ishibashi, about 4 minutes).
- Oura Cathedral → upper entrance (walk about 7 minutes, or ride the Glover Sky Road).
- Work downhill through the grounds, from the Mitsubishi No.2 Dock House to the Former Glover House and the exit.
- Tram from Nagasaki Station, one change
- Nagasaki Station-mae →(tram bound for Sofukuji, about 7 minutes)→ Shinchi Chinatown, change to a tram bound for Ishibashi →(about 4 minutes)→ Oura Cathedral. From there it is roughly a 7-minute walk up the slope. Trams are frequent, so the change is short.
- Return from Oura Cathedral tram stop
- Walk back down the slope to the Oura Cathedral stop and reverse the route, changing at Shinchi Chinatown for Nagasaki Station-mae. Trams stop running well before midnight, so if you stay for a night opening, check the last departure at the stop.
About the place
Glover Garden sits on the Minamiyamate slope above Nagasaki harbour, in the quarter set aside for foreign residents after the port opened. Nine Western-style buildings stand in the grounds. Three of them — the Former Glover, Ringer and Alt Houses — are on their original plots and are designated national Important Cultural Properties. The rest were dismantled elsewhere in the city and rebuilt here, which is why a judge's official residence and a dock house for ship's officers now share one garden. Verandas, shutters and low hipped roofs repeat from building to building, and the harbour is visible from almost every terrace.
How to enjoy it
Ride up to the top entrance and walk down, which keeps the harbour in front of you the whole way instead of behind. The garden opens at 8:00, earlier than most paid sights in the city, so the first hour lands before the tour groups and the cruise arrivals. Finish at the Former Glover House near the exit and carry straight on downhill to the cathedral approach.
Background & history
The Former Glover House was built in 1863 for Thomas Glover, a Scottish merchant who arrived soon after Nagasaki opened to foreign trade. Japanese carpenters built it using Japanese tiles and plaster on a Western plan, and it is recognised as the oldest surviving Western-style wooden building in Japan. It was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1961. The garden itself opened in 1974, when houses moved from elsewhere in the city were added to the three already standing on this slope.
Before you go
- Cash
- Admission was 1,300 yen for adults and 650 yen for school-age children at the time of checking. The last entry is 20 minutes before closing, so arriving right at the end does not work.
- Before you go
- The site is a hillside and the paths between houses are ramps and steps in the open air, with little cover in rain. Night openings run in some months only, so the garden is not lit every evening.
- Another way
- From the south bus stop at Nagasaki Station, routes 30 and 35 reach the Glover-en stop in about 12 minutes, leaving a 5-minute walk to the entrance.
- After you get off
- From the Oura Cathedral tram stop, walk uphill past the cathedral approach and follow the signs; the Glover Sky Road inclined lift covers the steepest part and delivers you to the upper entrance.