, born Jessie Roberta Cowan, was a Scottish-Japanese businesswoman known as the

wife A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...

Masataka Taketsuru was a Japanese chemist and businessman. He is known as the founder of Japan's whisky industry and 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 ...

, the founder of Nikka Whisky.

Life

She was born into a doctor's family(Japanese) Masataka and Rita Taketsuru - Yoichi, Hokkaido/Takehara, Hiroshima
asahi.com in Kirkintilloch,

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bea ...

, a town near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Of four siblings, Rita was the oldest, followed by her sister Isabella Lillian "Ella" Cowan, the third daughter Lucy, who was 3 years younger than Ella, and finally their younger brother Campbell.(Japanese) NIKKA WHISKY The Take of Rita Taketsuru Chapter 1 Part 1
Asahi Beer Mobile Masataka Taketsuru entered

Scotland's Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1918 to study

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, ...

and

applied chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, ...

. At that time Rita's younger sister Ella, enrolled at the University's medical faculty, requested Masataka to instruct her younger brother Campbell in

Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

(

Jiujitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

). Masataka and Rita then met at the Cowan house. Having expressed his love to Rita, Masataka then revealed to her his wish to help in "making real

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...

in Japan". They married in a simple ceremony at the register office in January 1920. After marrying, they moved to Japan that same year, and lived for a while in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. After Masataka opened the distillery in Yoichi in 1934 in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

, Rita continued to support him devotedly. Although Rita was spared internment and allowed to stay in Yoichi during the Pacific War because she had become a Japanese citizen, the

Kenpeitai The , also known as Kempeitai, was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945 that also served as a secret police force. In addition, in Japanese-occupied territories, the Kenpeitai arrested or killed those suspecte ...

kept her under constant surveillance as a suspected foreign spy. They even raided her home several times and accused her of having radio equipment to contact Allied submarines. After the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, neighbours turned against her, she was ignored in the street and children would throw rocks at her home. In 1955 Rita suffered from liver disease and tuberculosis, and began spending the summers in Yoichi and the winters in

Zushi, Kanagawa is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 58,087, and a population density of 3,350 per km². The total area is . Geography Zushi is located at the head of Miura Peninsula, fac ...

where Masataka stayed during his business trips to Tokyo. However, in the autumn of 1960 she returned to Yoichi, and died there in January 1961. She is buried in Yoichi together with her husband who later died in 1979.

Legacy

130823Nikka Wisky Yoichi Distillery Hokkaido Japan37bss

Using the inheritance she received from relatives as funds, Rita established the "Rita Nursery". National Route 229 in front of the main train station in Yoichi was renamed "Rita Road" in her honor. The

Yoichi Distillery is a Japanese whisky distillery. It is located at , a town in the Yoichi District, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. The distillery is owned by Nikka Whisky Distilling, and was opened in 1934. It is the older of the two distilleri ...

contains the Rita House which is a

Designated Tangible Cultural Property Designation (from Latin ''designatio'') is the process of determining an incumbent's successor. A candidate that won an election for example, is the ''designated'' holder of the office the candidate has been elected to, up until the candidate's i ...

under Japanese law.

References

External links

* http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/nikkawhisky.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Taketsuru, Rita Scottish emigrants to Japan Scottish expatriates in Japan People from Kirkintilloch People from Zushi, Kanagawa 1896 births 1961 deaths

Life

Legacy

See also

References

External links