Commemorations of Robert Burns around the world
After Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, Robert Burns has more statues dedicated to him around the world than any other non-religious figure.
From Madame Butterfly to Sakura
It's well known that the Japanese like golf. It's equally well known that they are great whisky makers - though the story of how this art found its way to the orient is probably not common knowledge. What would most likely come as a surprise, however, is the Scots influence on Japanese 'opera'.
Sakura is Japan's biggest soap opera. Its music is written by Scottish composers. Scottish composers also work extensively for Sony, Yamaha and Toshiba-EMI.
The Mitsubishi Thistle
This is an interesting new strand to a long established trading relationship that dates back to the early 17th Century. Most significantly, it is a Scotsman who is known as the 'father' of Japanese industry, whose exploits also, may have been the inspiration for that other great 'Japanese' opera - Madame Butterfly. In the 1860s, Thomas Blake Glover - a young Aberdeenshire clerk - arrived in Nagasaki and quickly became a prominent 'mover and shaker' spearheading far-reaching developments in coal mining, railways and shipbuilding, including commissioning three warships for the Japanese navy to be built in the Aberdeen shipyards. In fact, Glover established his own shipbuilding company, which later grew into the industrial giant Mitsubishi. He also organised the education of many young Japanese in Britain.
The political industrialist
But perhaps the most fascinating thing of all was his involvement with the Samurai. With the boundless energy of the Victorian trailblazers, not only was he a key figure in the industrialisation of Japan, he also found time to help the Samurai overthrow their military leader the Shogun and restore the Emperor to the throne. In the light of which, it's not surprising that he was the first non-Japanese to be presented with one of the country's highest honours the Order of the Rising Sun.
The heart of the opera
Glover went on to marry the daughter of a Samurai, Tsura. And it's in the area of Glover's personal relationships that many believe Puccini gained his inspiration for his opera, cloaking the historical figure in the guise of a US naval officer. On the one hand, Tsura habitually wore the emblem of a butterfly on her kimono. And on the other, Glover had a son by a geisha, Kaga Maki. When Glover took the son to stay with him and Tsura, Maki unsuccessfully attempted suicide. The ensuing scandal was a definitive chapter in Nagasaki's social history.
Interested in finding out more about Scotland's history?
Go to Scotland's History for more information.
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