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

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

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 Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

, a town near

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

in 1918 to study

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

and

applied chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their com ...

. 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 gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

(

Jiujitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

). 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 liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

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 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. After Masataka opened the distillery in Yoichi in 1934 in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Rita continued to support him devotedly. Although Rita was spared internment and allowed to stay in Yoichi during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

because she had become a Japanese citizen, the

Kenpeitai The , , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, HUMINT, interrogated suspects ...

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 Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, 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 Cities of Japan, 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 ...

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 List of towns in Japan, town in the Yoichi District, Hokkaido, Yoichi District, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. The distillery is owned by Nikka Whisky Distilling, and was op ...

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 ...

under Japanese law.

References

External links

* http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/nikkawhisky.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Taketsuru, Rita 19th-century Scottish businesswomen Scottish emigrants to Japan People from Kirkintilloch People from Zushi, Kanagawa 1896 births 1961 deaths

Life

Legacy

See also

References

External links