February 3.With regard to your front page report (February 1), Japan

buys Scotch brand name, concerning the Nikka Whisky Company's takeover

of the Ben Nevis Distillery in Fort William, may I point out that Rita

Cowan, the wife of Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka Whisky

Company, was not from Glasgow but was a native of Kirkintilloch, in

Strathkelvin district.

There have been links for many years between Kirkintilloch and Yoichi

in Japan, where the headquarters of Nikka are situated. This friendship

was cemented last October when the mayor of Yoichi, along with members

of the Taketsuru family, visited Kirkintilloch to sign a town twinning

agreement.

Robert M. Coyle,

Provost,

Strathkelvin District Council.