Masataka Taketsuru

Masataka Taketsuru (竹鶴 政孝, Taketsuru Masataka; 20 June 1894 – 29 August 1979) was a Japanese chemist and businessman who helped establish whisky production in Japan and founded Nikka Whisky Distilling.

Born to a family that had owned a sake brewery since 1733, he traveled to Scotland in 1918 to study organic chemistry and distilling. After graduating, Taketsuru joined Settsu Shuzō, a prominent Japanese liquor company founded in the early 1900s, known for producing alcohol including whisky.

With a plan to make Japanese whisky, Settsu Shuzo had sent him to Scotland to study the art of whisky production. He then returned to Japan, where he worked at Kotobukiya (later Suntory) and helped establish Japan’s first commercial whisky distillery at Yamazaki under founder Shinjiro Torii. In 1934, he founded his own company, Dai Nippon Kaju Co., Ltd., initially producing fruit juice in Hokkaido before beginning whisky production; the company later became known as Nikka Whisky from a contraction of the juice company name. He studied brewing and chemistry (later linked to what is now Osaka University), and joined Settsu Shuzō as the company began planning domestic whisky production.

Experiences in Scotland (1918–1920) In December 1918, he arrived in Scotland and enrolled at the University of Glasgow, where he studied organic chemistry in the summer of 1919. Taketsuru studied under Thomas Stewart Patterson, the Gardiner Chair of Chemistry. In April 1919, Taketsuru began his apprenticeship at Longmorn distillery in Strathspey, Scotland, and then in July at James Calder & Co.'s Bo'ness distillery in the Lowlands region. On 8 January 1920, he married Jessie Roberta "Rita" Cowan of Middlecroft, Kirkintilloch, despite opposition from both their families. They married in order to be together for his apprenticeship that began later that year in Campbeltown at Hazelburn distillery (purchased in 1920 by Mackie & Co., then owners of Springbank) before moving to Japan in November 1920 via New York and Seattle.

Return to Japan and early whisky making

After returning to Japan in 1920, Taketsuru worked for Settsu Shuzō, a prominent Japanese liquor company that planned to produce an authentic domestic whisky. His early whisky plans were quashed when his Settsu Shozō changed direction and moved away from whiskey production. From there he joined Kotobukiya (later Suntory).

Kotobukiya Co., Ltd. (寿屋) was the predecessor of Suntory, founded in 1921 by Shinjiro Torii as a producer and seller of Western-style alcoholic beverages in Japan; the company later changed its name to Suntory in 1963. At Kotobukiya (which became Suntory), he helped establish the Yamazaki Distillery, the country’s first commercial whisky distillery. The company was named Dai Nippon Kaju Co., Ltd. ("Great Japan Fruit Juice"), reflecting its initial focus on fruit products before whisky production began. Nikka’s official timeline dates the company’s founding to 2 July 1934 and notes that Yoichi Distillery construction was completed later that year; Nikka began manufacturing whisky and brandy in 1936, and launched its first whisky in 1940.

Later life In the years following its founding, Masataka Taketsuru served as president of Dai Nippon Kaju (later Nikka Whisky), officially holding that position from 1943.

His life and marriage inspired the NHK morning drama Massan (broadcast 29 September 2014 – 28 March 2015).