In this episode, I share the story of Rita Cowan, a young woman who helped take Scotch Whisky to Japan more than 100 years ago. Hello and welcome to Adventures in English, a weekly podcast for English language learners  covering a range of topics often, from a Scottish perspective.  I’m your host Jenni. In this episode. I’d like to tell you about a remarkable Scottish lady who helped to take one of Scotland’s most famous products, Scotch whisky to a whole new market and a new country more than 100 years ago. Her name was Rita Cowan and she was born into a middle class family in 1896, her father was a doctor and she was the oldest of 4 children.  She grew up in the small town of Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow where she experienced a fairly typical middle class upbringing,  she attending the local schools and also learning to play the piano.When WW1 struck she was engaged to be married, but her fiance was tragically killed in the conflict.  In 1918, her father died and  so the family chose to take in a lodger to help pay the bills. The lodger was a 25 year old Japanese man called Masataka taketsuru, he was studying at Glasgow University and had been sent to Scotland by the drinks company he was working for to discover the secrets of making malt whisky so that he could take this back to Japan and open a distillery there.It didn’t take long for Rita and Masataka to fall in love and despite strong family opposition they got married in Glasgow in January 1920.After two short apprenticeships at Scottish whisky distilleries where Masataka learned how to make whisky, it was time to return to Japan,  it’s hard to imagine just how Rita must have felt at travelling thousands of miles to a new country with an unfamiliar language and culture, leaving behind her family, her friends and the life she had known. She was to spend the rest of her life in Japan.On arrival in Japan, things did not go to plan and Masataka had to wait several years before he had the chance to make whisky. During this time, Rita taught English to help make ends meet while learning all she could about Japanese culture and language. Masataka taught Chemistry. Eventually  Word got out about Masataka’s knowledge of whisky making and he was soon hired by the founder of Suntory whisky to get Yamazaki Distillery, Japan’s first ever whisky distillery up and running.10 years later in 1934 Masataka and Rita were finally able to open their own distillery in the North of Japan in a small town called Yoichi, they chose the area because the climate was similar to Scotland, when they built the distillery they even planted some heather, one of Scotlands’ most famous plants. Masataka had finally achieved his dream of running his own whisky distillery but  It was thanks to Rita’s connections through teaching English that they got the investment they needed to make that dream come true.They settled into life in Yoichi but During WW2 life became difficult . Despite the difficulties, Rita remained in Japan with Masataka.  Nikka whisky went from strength to strength and the distillery is still run by the family today. Sadly Rita died in 1961 and Masataka much later in 1979.  They are both buried in Yoichi and  their legacy lives on. The main road in Yoichi has been named Rita road and Rita also helped to establish a nursery school there before she died, known as Rita nursery. Yoichi even has its own tartan. Here in Scotland,  there’s a permanent exhibition about her in Kirkintilloch at the local Town Hall. Today Rita and Masataka are known as the Mother and Father of Japanese Whisky in Japan.

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