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In the early 1920s, Masataka Taketsuru came to Scotland from Japan to learn how to distil whisky. While in Scotland he married Rita Cowan, of Kirkintilloch, who left Scotland with him to live in Japan for forty years, never to return home. She died in 1961. This is an illustrated story of one man's determination to succeed, both in business and love. It is also the story of a young girl's move to a land far away, of strange customs and even stranger language, her joys and heartaches. It is also the incredible story of how whisky is made to perfection thousands of miles away from its cultural 'home', and the history of its development within Japan up to the present day.

Yoichi distillery under the snow

THE SCOTTISH GIRL WHO MARRIED THE FOUNDER OF JAPANESE WHISKY

The Englishman drinks wine, the American woman wears a crown of feathers, the Dutchman smokes a pipe. The artist is not the famous Hiroshige, but a lesser-known namesake.

Japansk whiskyhistoria är konfliktfylld och dramatisk. Suntory och Nikka talar inte med varandra. Deras whisky drar medvetet åt olika håll. Nikka anammar den klassiska skotska stilen och ”dyrkar” fortfarande det europeiska arvet, över 70 år efter starten. Frågan är varför? Yoichi slår nämligen förebilden rejält. Välkommen till världens kanske främsta whiskydestilleri.

Not many people would associate Japan with world class whiskey but that's exactly what you'll find in the small town of Yoichi. The Nikka Whiskey Distillery offers tours, tastings and a brilliant insight into the history of whiskey making in Japan.

LIKE English wine, it has suffered from the taint of inauthenticity and has been the butt of condescending jokes. But now Japanese whisky has scotched its critics by being voted the best in the world, ahead of its Scottish rivals. Yoichi 20-year-old, distilled on the shores of the Sea of Japan, has become the first variety produced outside Scotland to win the coveted single malt award in an international competition run by Whisky Magazine, the industry bible.

Découverte d'une petite ville proche de la mer, Yoichi, célèbre pour ses usines de Whisky qui sont la véritable surprise de cette première semaine du mois d'août. Immense territoire recouvert par les installations d'une distillerie miraculeuse qui évoque les vastes landes d'Ecosse, tout est là, du musée aux entrepôts de stockage, des caves géantes aux magasins de liqueurs. On y apprend que Masataka Taketsuru (1894-1979), le père du whisky japonais Nikka, partit en Ecosse afin d'étudier les techniques de distillation et de fabrication en 1918. Son apprentissage se fit dans le cercle très intime des maîtres écossais dont il gagna la confiance et l'amitié après de longues années de labeur. Marié à Jessica Roberta Cowan, jeune fille rencontrée lors de son exil, ils partagèrent ensemble le rêve de créer le premier whisky totalement japonais et ouvrirent leur distillerie en 1934, dans cette petite ville hokkaidoise de Yoichi qui réunissait les qualités essentielles à la fabrication d'un tel produit: brume, air limpide et eau d'une grande pureté.

Tout simplement le meilleur pure malt au monde pour Whisky Magazine ! Rond et gourmand, cet assemblage de single malts ravira tous les amateurs, du novice à l'expert. Un véritable concentré de plaisir.

It is not really in the interests of Japan's big two distillers to tell you too much about it but Japanese whisky had a prehistory. If you listen to the official versions from Nikka or Suntory, Japanese whisky started with a bang in 1919 or 1924. They have slightly different versions of the creation myth, emphasising the role of either Masataka Taketsuru or Shinjiro Torii in bringing the gospel of authentic whisky from Scotland, but basically they agree: quite suddenly, out of the blue, Japan started making proper Scotch style whisky.

In 1918, Masataka Taketsuru embarked alone on a long voyage to Scotland. In this distant land the secrets of whisky-making would be imparted to this young Japanese man, and here he would meet the woman who would become his bride. Masataka Taketsuru was born in the coastal town of Takehara (now Takehara City) about 60km from Hiroshima City. The Taketsuru family owned a "sake"(Japanese brew made form fermented rice) brewery that goes back to 1733-- and continues to produce fine sake today, in 2004. Taught early that sake making is a painstaking fine art, Masataka studied diligently and trained at university as a chemist, preparing to carry on the family trade.

Masataka Taketsuru (竹鶴 政孝, Taketsuru Masataka?, 1894–1979) founded Japan's whisky industry. He was born in 1894 in Takehara, Hiroshima to a family that had owned a sake brewery since 1733.

Japan is the second biggest producer of single malt whisky in the world. It has been taking top prizes in international tastings since 2001. At the 2008 World Whisky Awards, Japan underlined its arrival on the world scene by scooping both of the top prizes - the best single malt whisky in the world and the best blended whisky in the world.

On Thursday April 17, 1919, Masataka Taketsuru walked into the ramshackle wooden buildings of Glasgow`s Buchanan Street Station and boarded the Caledonian Railway train going north. It was a historic moment.