The History of Japanese Whisky: From Taketsuru to Today

It started with one person. Masataka Taketsuru went to Scotland in 1918, learned to distill, came back, and helped build Japan’s first distillery.
Two companies still dominate: Suntory (founded the first distillery in 1923) and Nikka (Taketsuru’s own, founded 1934).
The century in between: war, a 25 year sales decline, a surprise TV drama that reignited demand, and a complete reinvention of what “Japanese whisky” even means.
Today: booming global demand, craft distilleries popping up across Japan, and new JSLMA labeling standards to separate authentic whisky from misleadingly labeled imports.

Before Whisky: Japan Meets Western Spirits

Western spirits trickled into Japan after the country opened its ports in the 1850s and 1860s. By the late 1800s, imported Scotch was available in port cities, though it remained a niche curiosity. Some domestic producers attempted to create whisky style spirits, but these were imitations in name only, bearing little resemblance to actual Scotch.

The first known encounter between Westerners and Japanese made “whisky” happened in September 1918, when American soldiers from the Siberian Expeditionary Force stopped in Hakodate. They found a brand called Queen George, which one soldier described as “Scotch whisky made in Japan.” Whatever it contained, it was not whisky by any modern standard.

The real story begins with two men who had very different ideas about what Japanese whisky should be.

Shinjiro Torii: The Businessman

Shinjiro Torii started Torii Shoten in 1899, importing and selling Western wines and spirits in Osaka. His first big success was Akadama Port Wine, a sweet wine that sold well domestically. But Torii wanted something bigger. He wanted to make whisky in Japan.

In 1921, he founded Kotobukiya (which would later become Suntory). Despite resistance from his own executives, who thought Japanese consumers would never take to whisky, Torii decided to build a distillery. He chose Yamazaki, a suburb between Osaka and Kyoto, famous for its water quality. The tea master Sen no Rikyū had built his tearoom there centuries earlier for the same reason.

Torii needed someone who understood whisky production. He found Masataka Taketsuru.

Masataka Taketsuru: The Chemist

Taketsuru was born in 1894 in Takehara, Hiroshima, into a family that had run a sake brewery since 1733. After studying chemistry (at what is now Osaka University), he joined Settsu Shuzō, a liquor company that wanted to produce authentic domestic whisky. In 1918, Settsu Shuzō sent him to Scotland.

He enrolled at the University of Glasgow to study organic chemistry and began apprenticing at distilleries. He trained at Longmorn in Speyside, Bo’ness in the Lowlands, and Hazelburn in Campbeltown, learning every aspect of whisky production from malting to maturation. While in Scotland, he married Jessie Roberta “Rita” Cowan, a Scottish woman from Kirkintilloch. They returned to Japan together in November 1920.

When Settsu Shuzō abandoned its whisky plans, Taketsuru joined Torii’s Kotobukiya as distillery manager. The partnership between the businessman and the chemist would create Japan’s whisky industry.

Yamazaki: Japan’s First Real Distillery (1923)

Construction at Yamazaki began in 1923, and the distillery was completed in November 1924. Taketsuru oversaw the technical side, applying everything he had learned in Scotland.

The first whisky produced there, Suntory Shirofuda (White Label), was released in 1929. It was not a hit. Japanese consumers found it too smoky and harsh, a direct consequence of Taketsuru’s commitment to replicating the heavier Highland style he had studied. Torii, who had a sharper instinct for the Japanese palate, wanted something softer and more approachable.

This fundamental disagreement about what Japanese whisky should taste like, Scottish authenticity versus Japanese sensibility, would define the split between the two founders. (For more on how the two traditions compare, see Japanese Whisky vs Scotch.)

The Parting of Ways: Nikka Is Born (1934)

Taketsuru left Kotobukiya in 1934. He wanted to build a distillery in a location that reminded him of Scotland: cool climate, crisp air, clean water. He chose Yoichi in Hokkaido.

He founded Dai Nippon Kaju Co., Ltd. (“Great Japan Fruit Juice”), which produced apple juice to fund operations while the whisky aged. The company began distilling in 1936 and released its first whisky in 1940. The name was eventually shortened to Nikka, derived from a contraction of the juice company name.

Yoichi became known for its robust, peaty single malts, the closest thing to Scottish Highland whisky made in Japan. Taketsuru’s insistence on coal fired pot stills (a practice Yoichi maintains to this day) gave the spirit a distinctive character that set it apart from Suntory’s smoother output.

Meanwhile, Torii pressed forward with whiskies calibrated for the Japanese market. Suntory Kakubin, launched in 1937, found the balance he was looking for and became one of Japan’s most iconic whisky bottles.

War and the Postwar Boom

World War II disrupted production but also created unexpected demand. The Japanese military requisitioned whisky for officers, and after the war, American and British occupation soldiers provided a new wave of consumers. Both Suntory and Nikka expanded to meet demand.

The 1950s and 1960s saw whisky become part of everyday Japanese drinking culture. Suntory’s chain of Torys bars, affordable neighborhood spots serving standardized highballs, brought whisky to a broad audience. The whisky highball, whisky with sparkling water, became a fixture of izakaya dining.

A uniquely Japanese custom emerged during this period: bottle keep, where regular customers would buy a bottle at a bar and have it stored with their name on it for future visits. Mizuwari (whisky diluted with about two to three parts water) became the default serving style.

Suntory Old, released in 1950, became the company’s flagship for decades. In 1980, Suntory shipped 12.4 million cases of Suntory Old, achieving the highest annual sales volume for a single whisky brand in the world.

Expansion: New Distilleries, New Styles

Through the 1960s and 1970s, both major producers expanded.

Nikka opened Miyagikyo in 1969 in northern Honshu. While Yoichi produced heavy, peaty malt, Miyagikyo made lighter, fruitier spirit, giving Nikka a wider palette for blending. The distillery also housed Coffey stills for grain whisky production.

Suntory built Hakushu in 1973, nestled in a forest at 700 meters elevation in the Japanese Alps. The mountain environment produced a crisp, herbal whisky distinct from Yamazaki’s rich, sherry influenced style. Chita, Suntory’s dedicated grain whisky distillery, also opened in 1972.

Kirin entered the whisky business in 1973 with Fuji Gotemba, located at the base of Mount Fuji. While never as prominent as Suntory or Nikka, Kirin brought a third major player to the industry.

The Long Decline (1983 to 2008)

After peaking in 1983, Japanese whisky consumption fell off a cliff. By 2008, the country was drinking only 20% of what it had consumed at the peak. Beer, shōchū, and wine all gained ground at whisky’s expense. An extended economic downturn and shifting tastes drove the decline.

Distilleries scaled back production. Aged stocks dwindled. Some facilities went dormant. The industry looked like it might not recover.

This period of reduced distillation would have consequences that no one anticipated at the time.

International Awards Change Everything

While domestic consumption cratered, something unexpected happened on the world stage. Japanese whiskies started winning international competitions.

Yamazaki 12 earned major recognition at the International Spirits Challenge in the early 2000s. In 2003, Yamazaki 12 won a gold medal at ISC, one of the first times a Japanese single malt had received such attention. More awards followed across multiple competitions for both Suntory and Nikka expressions.

International whisky critics began paying serious attention. Japanese whisky went from curiosity to contender, and global demand started building.

The Highball Revival and the Massan Effect

Two events in the late 2000s and 2010s reignited domestic interest.

First, Suntory launched a nationwide highball campaign around 2008, repositioning whisky as an everyday drink rather than something old fashioned. The campaign worked. Highball machines appeared in convenience stores and izakaya across Japan, and younger drinkers who had never considered whisky started ordering it.

Second, in 2014, NHK aired Massan, a morning drama based on the life of Masataka Taketsuru and his wife Rita. The show was a massive hit, sparking a surge of interest in Japanese whisky’s origins. Distillery tours booked out. Sales spiked. Consumers who had never tried Japanese whisky suddenly wanted to know the story.

The combination of international awards, the highball revival, and Massan created demand that the industry, having spent 25 years reducing production, could not begin to meet.

The Supply Crisis

The boom exposed a fundamental problem. Whisky takes years to mature, and the distilleries had drastically cut production during the decline. There simply was not enough aged stock to go around.

Hakushu 12 and Hibiki Japanese Harmony (specifically its age stated siblings like Hibiki 17) were discontinued or severely allocated. Prices on the secondary market skyrocketed. Bottles that had once sat on shelves for months became impossible to find.

Producers responded by focusing on no age statement (NAS) expressions that could be produced more flexibly. Suntory Toki, launched specifically for the international market, used younger stocks blended across multiple distilleries.

The Craft Distillery Wave

The supply shortage and global attention also triggered something new: a wave of craft distilleries.

In 2008, Ichiro Akuto opened Chichibu, the first new whisky distillery licensed in Japan in 35 years. Chichibu’s small batch, experimental approach, including Mizunara cask maturation and unusual finishes, won immediate critical acclaim and inspired others.

The 2010s saw an explosion of new entrants. Akkeshi (2016) in Hokkaido, Nagahama (2016), Tsunuki (2016) from Hombo Shuzo (Mars), Kanosuke (2017), and Sakurao (2018) all opened within a few years. By the mid 2020s, Japan had over 100 distillery sites in operation or development, up from fewer than 10 at the start of the century.

Most of these new distilleries are small operations, many with annual capacity that Yamazaki could produce in a week. But they are diversifying Japanese whisky beyond the Suntory/Nikka duopoly, experimenting with local grains, unusual cask types, and regional terroir.

JSLMA Standards: Defining “Japanese Whisky” (2021)

For most of its history, there was no legal definition of “Japanese whisky.” Any spirit bottled in Japan could use the label, even if it was distilled in Scotland or Canada and simply shipped to Japan in bulk. Several brands took advantage of this, importing foreign whisky and marketing it under Japanese sounding names.

In February 2021, the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association (JSLMA) introduced voluntary standards. To carry the “Japanese Whisky” label, a product must be:

Fermented, distilled, and matured in Japan
Made with water sourced in Japan
Aged at least three years in wooden casks in Japan
Bottled in Japan at 40% ABV or higher

These standards are voluntary, not law. But most major producers have adopted them, and they have become the de facto standard for the category. Products that do not comply, including some well known bottles like Nikka From The Barrel, can no longer be labeled “Japanese Whisky” under JSLMA rules.

The standards brought welcome transparency but also complicated the market. Some popular and genuinely good whiskies that use imported components lost their “Japanese Whisky” designation even though they are produced by Japanese companies in Japanese distilleries. For consumers, understanding JSLMA compliance has become an important part of navigating the category.

Where Things Stand Now

Japanese whisky in the mid 2020s is a category defined by tension between heritage and growth.

The legacy producers, Suntory and Nikka, still control the majority of production and exports. Their flagship distilleries, Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yoichi, and Miyagikyo, remain the most visited and most recognized in the world. Age stated expressions from these distilleries command premium prices when they can be found at all.

Meanwhile, dozens of craft distilleries are writing new chapters. Some, like Chichibu and Akkeshi, have already built serious reputations. Others are still too young to release properly aged whisky but show promise.

The industry faces real challenges: supply constraints on aged stock, inflated secondary market prices, and the ongoing presence of misleading “Japanese style” whiskies that do not meet JSLMA standards. But the foundations laid by Taketsuru and Torii a century ago have proven remarkably durable.

What started as one chemist’s attempt to recreate Scottish whisky in Japan has become something entirely its own. If you’re new to the category, our beginner’s guide to Japanese whisky covers what to know and where to start.

Key Dates

Year	Event
1899	Shinjiro Torii opens Torii Shoten in Osaka
1918	Masataka Taketsuru travels to Scotland
1920	Taketsuru returns to Japan with wife Rita
1923	Construction begins at Yamazaki
1929	Suntory Shirofuda (White Label) released
1934	Taketsuru founds Dai Nippon Kaju (later Nikka) in Yoichi
1937	Suntory Kakubin launched
1950	Suntory Old released
1969	Miyagikyo opens
1972	Chita opens
1973	Hakushu and Fuji Gotemba open
1983	Japanese whisky consumption peaks
2003	Yamazaki 12 wins gold at ISC
2008	Chichibu opens; highball revival begins
2014	NHK drama Massan airs
2021	JSLMA standards introduced