In 1918, Takehara-born Masataka Taketsuru embarked alone on a long journey to Scotland in order to learn the secrets of whisky production. Although his family had owned a sake factory since 1733, it was Scotch whisky that always captivated him. So, after a few years of furthering his knowledge of Scotch whisky, he returned to Japan and in 1934, built what would become the first distillery in Yoichi, a place he considered ideal for whisky production due to several aspects that resembled the city of Glasgow. In the following decades, his company studied and developed the first Japanese whisky, always with the premise of the quality of the distillate. Thus was born Nikka, a Japanese whisky, acclaimed worldwide for its quality, harmony and complexity.