Taketsuru

Taketsuru is a Japanese surname. The best-known bearer is Masataka Taketsuru, a chemist and distiller who is widely credited with founding Japanese whisky. He traveled to Scotland in the early 1920s to learn malt whisky production, apprenticed at several distilleries, and brought back techniques for fermentation, distillation, and aging. On his return to Japan, he joined Shinjiro Torii, the founder of a domestic spirits company, to develop whisky there. In 1934 they established the Yoichi distillery in Yoichi, Hokkaido, the cornerstone of Nikka Whisky. Taketsuru served as master distiller, helping define Nikka's whisky profile and shaping what would become characteristic elements of Japanese whisky, such as careful malt selection, precision in mashing and distillation, and balanced aging for a refined finish. He is often described as a founder figure in Japanese whisky, though branding and corporate leadership were shared with Torii and later company management. In his personal life, Taketsuru married Rita Cowan, a Scottish woman, and their partnership is widely associated with the international character of Nikka’s whiskies. His work helped establish Japan as a major whisky producer and inspired subsequent generations of Japanese brewers and blenders, contributing to the global reputation of Japanese whisky in the late 20th century.