Former Mitsubishi Shipyard No. 2 Dock House
This two-story building was a dormitory for sailors whose ships were under repair at the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard. It was built in 1896 next to the No. 2 Drydock.
The Nagasaki Iron Foundry, predecessor to the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, was established in 1857 with the help of Dutch engineers. The Meiji government took over its operation in 1868, and in 1884, the shipyard was leased by the Mitsubishi Company, which quickly expanded its shipbuilding operations. In 1887, Mitsubishi purchased the shipyard outright with the help of Thomas Glover (1838–1911), the successful Scottish businessman for whom Glover Garden is named. Glover was a lifelong friend of Iwasaki Yanosuke (1851–1908), who took over the Mitsubishi Company after the death of its founder, his older brother Iwasaki Yatarō (1835–1885).
Some of the industrial buildings that can be seen on the other side of the bay were built when Mitsubishi first acquired the lease. The Giant Cantilever Crane and the No. 3 Drydock, among other facilities owned by Mitsubishi, were designated World Heritage Sites in 2015 as part of the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining.
The No. 2 Dock House is typical of the Western-style buildings made in Japan at the end of the nineteenth century. It has spacious, high-ceilinged rooms, a second-floor veranda, coal-burning fireplaces, and large windows. It was moved to its present site at Glover Garden in 1972.
