Masataka Taketsuru | |
|---|---|
 Masataka Taketsuru and his wife Rita | |
| Born | 竹鶴 政孝 たけつる まさたか 20 June 1894 |
| Died | 29 August 1979 (aged 85) Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow Osaka University |
| Known for | Founder of Nikka Whisky |
| Spouse(s) | Rita Taketsuru (1920.01.08－1961.01.17, her death) |
Masataka Taketsuru (竹鶴 政孝, Taketsuru Masataka, 1894–1979) 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 distilling. He then returned to Japan establishing a whisky distillery at Suntory and founded his own distilling company, Nikka Whisky, in 1934.