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Thomas Glover arrived in Nagasaki in 1859, just as Japan was
opening to the West. Within a few years he had played a crucial
part in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, providing the
rebels with war-winning, Scottish-designed warships, and modern
arms. Bankruptcy by the age of thirty was barely a setback and he
went on to become a pivotal figure in the rapidly expanding
Mitsubishi empire, founding shipyards and breweries. As energetic
in his love-life as in business and politics, Glover had a string
of Japanese mistresses, one of whom inspired Puccini's Madam
Butterfly. This 'Scottish Samurai' was to become an adviser to the
Japanese government; he also arranged for many Japanese to visit
Britain and see the wonders of the industrial revolution, a lesson
they enthusiastically absorbed. Today, Glover is regarded as one of
the founding fathers of the Japanese economic miracle.
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