The relationship between Scotland and Japan received a boost when Fife based Lord Bruce and Karate master Ronnie Watt OBE led a delegation to Edinburgh for a commemorative tree planting ceremony at the residence of the Consul General of Japan.
Lord Bruce, Patron of the Japan Society of Scotland said: “The planting of a Japanese pine tree in the garden of the Consul General in this special anniversary year symbolises the deep historical connections that link Scotland and Japan.
“It was Scottish ingenuity, technology and trading networks that provided Japan with many of the opportunities it needed to become a world power by the beginning of the twentieth century”.
Mr Watt, who founded the National Karate Institute and the Order of the Scottish Samurai explained: “When Fraserburgh-born Thomas Blake Glover travelled to Japan, he was one of a number of Scots who were influential in the modernisation of the country.
“Glover’s home, which today attracts millions of visitors was called ‘Ippon Matsu’, which means ‘single pine tree’.
“Because of this, and to mark the 150th Anniversary of the restoration of the Meiji Emperor in 1868, and the birth of Japan as a modern nation state, we were delighted to present the Consul General of Japan, Mr Daisuke Matsunaga with a Japanese pine tree.”
Speaking after the ceremony, Consul General Matsunaga said: “Today is a very special day because a commemorative pine tree was planted in my garden by Ronnie Watt OBE, Lord Charles Bruce and some other good friends of mine.
“May the tree grow up to celebrate the friendship between Japan and Scotland.
“The tree is all the more symbolic because it is believed to be the same kind of pine tree which was at Glover House in Nagasaki, Japan, the house of a pioneering Scotsman, who helped Japan with its modernisation efforts.”
