Masataka Taketsuru and the Birth of Japanese Whisky

Masataka Taketsuru helped turn Shinjiro Torii’s ambition for Japanese whisky into a working distillery at Yamazaki, then left to pursue his own venture in Hokkaido. Their story belongs to two founders, not one, and to Rita Taketsuru, whose teaching and personal connections helped support the business that became Nikka.[1][2]

Two founders before Yamazaki

Torii came to whisky through the drinks trade. Born in Osaka in 1879, he joined Konishi Gisuke Shoten in 1892, where he learned to blend imitation whiskey. He opened Torii Shoten in 1899, launched Akadama Port Wine in 1907 and founded Kotobukiya Co., Ltd., later Suntory, in 1921. The National Diet Library describes him as the “Founder of the foreign liquor industry in Japan”.[2]

Taketsuru brought a different preparation. His Scottish training included the University of Glasgow, the Royal Technical College and work at Longmorn, Bo’ness and Hazelburn, recorded in the “Taketsuru Notes”. His contribution was practical knowledge acquired through study and distillery experience, rather than the founding of Torii’s company.[TOP-A069]

That distinction matters. Calling Taketsuru the founder of Suntory erases Torii’s earlier business and his decision to undertake whisky production. Calling Yamazaki simply Torii’s achievement leaves out the factory manager who designed its facilities and stills, according to Nikka’s account.[1][2]

Rita, Scotland and the journey to Japan

Jessie Roberta “Rita” Cowan was born in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, in 1896. Journalist Tony McNicol’s account traces the couple’s meeting through Rita’s younger sister Ella, who met Taketsuru at Glasgow University and invited him to teach judo to their brother Campbell.[5]

Taketsuru later became a lodger in the Cowan household, after Rita’s father died in 1918.[5] The couple married in Glasgow on 8 January 1920 and returned to Japan that November.[TOP-A069]

Nikka’s account gives Rita an explicit voice in the decision to move: “I want to support you to achieve your dream. We should go to Japan”. It also records a less celebrated stage after Taketsuru left his employer, Settsu Shuzo: he worked as a chemistry teacher while Rita taught English.[1]

These details make Rita more than a companion at the edge of a distillery photograph. Later, Nikka says, her English and piano lessons connected the couple with wealthy Tezukayama families who helped fund Dai Nippon Kaju, the company behind Taketsuru’s independent venture.[1]

Shinjiro Torii, Yamazaki (1923) and the parting of the founders

In 1923, Torii invited Taketsuru to build a whisky distillery at Yamazaki, Osaka Prefecture, according to the National Diet Library. Nikka describes the appointment as a ten year contract, with Taketsuru overseeing Yamazaki as factory manager.[1][2]

Their different preferences appeared in the choice of location. Nikka says Taketsuru proposed Hokkaido, while Torii preferred Yamazaki. Taketsuru nevertheless designed the facilities and stills there and brought in sake brewers from Hiroshima, in the producer’s account.[1]

Suntory dates the beginning of construction to 1923; Nikka dates completion to November 1924. These are separate milestones: the decision and building work came first, followed by a completed distillery, and only later a whisky release.[1][3]

The first whisky arrived in April 1929, according to Nikka. The National Diet Library identifies Suntory Whisky Shirofuda, released that year, as “Japan’s first domestic whisky”. Suntory’s own history says it failed, making this an awkward beginning rather than an immediate triumph.[1][2][3]

Suntory presents Torii’s guiding ambition as whisky “shaped to Japanese tastes” and associates his pioneering approach with “Yatte Minahare”. Its account draws a lesson from Shirofuda’s failure: satisfying the Japanese palate was central to success. That is the producer’s explanation of its founder’s thinking, not a neutral account of every decision at Yamazaki.[3]

What the parting establishes

Nikka says Taketsuru left Kotobukiya in March 1934 when his contract ended, to pursue “his dream of creating authentic whisky in Hokkaido”. The University of Glasgow’s account records that, after leaving Suntory, he sought backing for his own distillery.[1][4]

The reason beyond those statements remains unestablished in the verified record. None of the sources checked establishes a quarrel between Torii and Taketsuru, so their separation should not become a dramatic falling out by repetition. Different preferred locations and a later departure are not, by themselves, evidence of a personal rupture.[1][3][4]

The corporate histories also have different centres of attention. Nikka places Taketsuru’s work at Yamazaki within its founder’s journey; Suntory’s heritage page focuses on Torii and does not mention Taketsuru. Read together, they show why neither company narrative should stand alone as the whole story.[1][3]

Story box: Two founders, one working distillery

Claim: Taketsuru entered the Cowan household to teach Campbell judo and later lodged there. Verdict: Documented. McNicol records Ella’s invitation and the subsequent lodging. Gap: The account does not establish every detail of the relationship. Earliest identified source: Tony McNicol, 18 September 2014, https://www.nippon.com/en/views/b04203/. Last checked: 5 November 2026.[5]

Claim: Taketsuru left Kotobukiya in March 1934 when his ten year contract ended. Verdict: Documented. Nikka gives the contract and departure date in its own account. Gap: The account is a producer’s history. Earliest identified source: Nikka Whisky, undated, https://www.nikka.com/en/story/founder/. Last checked: 5 November 2026.[1]

Claim: Returned apple juice was distilled into brandy on stills later used for whisky. Verdict: Documented. Nikka describes the poorly selling juice and its conversion. Gap: The account is the producer’s own. Earliest identified source: Nikka Whisky, undated, https://www.nikka.com/en/story/founder/. Last checked: 5 November 2026.[1]

Apples before Nikka whisky

Taketsuru’s independent business did not begin with whisky ready to release. Nikka describes an early premium apple juice, concentrated from about five apples per bottle, which sold poorly. Returned juice was distilled into brandy using the stills later used for whisky.[1]

It is a revealing episode because it interrupts the neat progression from Scottish training to Yamazaki to an independent whisky distillery. The apple business was part of the venture’s actual beginnings, not a decorative aside. In Nikka’s telling, the same equipment connected an unsuccessful juice product with spirits production.[1]

Rita’s contribution belongs here too. The teaching connections described by Nikka helped provide backing for Dai Nippon Kaju; they were part of how the venture became possible, rather than simply evidence of encouragement at home.[1]

A short timeline

On screen: Massan (NHK, 2014)

Massan, NHK’s morning drama about the couple, debuted on 29 September 2014. American actress Charlotte Kate Fox played Ellie, a fictional character based on Rita, after being selected over 500 other actors, according to contemporary reporting in The Christian Science Monitor.[6]

That casting was itself a first: the newspaper reported that a foreign actress would take a leading role in NHK’s morning drama slot for the first time. A later report described the programme as running for six months from September 2014 and attracting high television ratings.[6][7]

The distinction between inspiration and documentation is essential. Ellie is not Rita under her own name, and the programme is a drama, not a documentary. It can introduce viewers to the couple’s story without serving as evidence for particular conversations, motives or incidents.[6]

A September 2016 newspaper report associated this period of attention with increased visits to Yoichi. It put the 2015 total at about 900,000, more than triple the 2012 figure, but did not identify the source of that total. The report supports an account of heightened interest, not a precise measurement of how many visits the drama alone caused.[7]

Verdict: Documented

Claim: Massan was the first NHK morning drama with a foreign actress in a leading role.[6]

What the record shows: Contemporary reporting identifies Charlotte Kate Fox and describes the casting as a first for the morning slot.[6]

Evidence against or gap: NHK’s own programme pages were not available in the supplied research record.

Earliest known source: The Christian Science Monitor, 20 September 2014.[6]

Source: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2014/0920/Japan-s-popular-morning-drama-takes-an-international-twist

Last checked: 5 November 2026.

Remembering the Scottish connection

The connection with Scotland continued beyond the founders’ lives. In 1988, Strathkelvin council, whose area then included Kirkintilloch, signed a twinning agreement with Yoichi. McNicol describes it as the first such agreement between Britain and Japan.[5]

In February 2025, East Dunbartonshire Council recorded a Nikka representative viewing Taketsuru material at the Auld Kirk Museum and Kirkintilloch Town Hall. Its description of Rita and Masataka as the “Mother and Father of Japanese Whisky” is commemorative language, expressing the place the couple holds in that local memory.[8]

Takeshi Taketsuru’s 2002 Scottish visit supplied another lasting connection: a University of Glasgow prize in his father’s memory. The university records the journey as following his father’s footsteps, bringing the story back to the institutions and relationships through which it began.[4]

Sources

1. Nikka Whisky. The Founder. Undated producer’s account, checked November 2026. https://www.nikka.com/en/story/founder/
2. National Diet Library, Japan. Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures: TORII Shinjiro. Undated online edition, checked November 2026. https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/6358
3. House of Suntory. Our History. Undated producer’s account, checked November 2026. https://house.suntory.com/heritage
4. University of Glasgow. Japanese whisky’s Glasgow roots. Undated online edition, checked November 2026. https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/avenue/ourpast/japanesewhiskeysroots/
5. Nippon.com, Tony McNicol. The Woman Who Took Whisky to Japan: Remembering Rita Cowan Taketsuru. 18 September 2014. https://www.nippon.com/en/views/b04203/
6. The Christian Science Monitor, Justin McCurry. Japan’s popular morning drama takes an international twist. 20 September 2014. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2014/0920/Japan-s-popular-morning-drama-takes-an-international-twist
7. Atlanta Journal Constitution. Foreigners seek out Japan whisky. 25 September 2016. https://www.ajc.com/travel/foreigners-seek-out-japan-whisky/QPjm1GaZZTIXvUhlbssqYL
8. East Dunbartonshire Council. Spirit of friendship. Provost gallery, 20 February 2025. https://eastdunbarton.gov.uk/about/councillors/provost-gillian-renwick/provost-gallery/2025/spirit-of-friendship

TOP-A069: Supplied internal verification record, set 02 sheet TOP-A069, cited by ID as directed by TOP-A027.

This article draws on the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing institutional records, journalism and the producers’ own histories.

Last checked: November 2026