The Famous Scottish Woman You've Never Heard Of

Rita Cowan, a name you probably haven't heard before. How did this Scottish woman from Kirkintilloch near Glasgow end up in Japan over 100 years ago and with her Japanese husband Masataka Taketsuru become instrumental in the origins of Japanese whisky and founding Nikka, one of Japan's best known and most successful whisky distilleries?

This is a story that has personally fascinated me ever since I first heard about it over 7 years ago. I've spent a lot of time living in Japan over the years and whenever I tell Japanese people I'm from Scotland, I'm often met with the response "Massan" in reference to the TV drama which was made about Rita and Masataka.

Since returning to Scotland, many Japanese viewers have requested me to visit Kirkintilloch and explore more about the story of Rita and Masataka in Scotland. I hope for those of you with an interest in this story, can enjoy seeing Kirkintilloch, the town where Rita and Masataka met and where their love story began.

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If we haven't met before... Hi, I'm Ruth 👋 and I recently bought a campervan to travel my home country of Scotland after living overseas for 12 years. I’ve hardly seen anything or been anywhere in Scotland and now is the time to change that!

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