‘It's just great': Japan ambassador tries Irn Bru on visit to whisky distillery
His Excellency Hiroshi Suzuki toured the Auchentoshan Distillery in Clydebank with First Minister John Swinney as the two discussed trade, including Scotland's national drink.
But during his first visit to Scotland he tried the nation's other national drink.
Mr Suzuki had tried Irn Bru earlier during his visit but some Scots had urged him to try the original 1901 recipe, which had been phased out following the sugar tax.
Handed a can by the PA news agency, the Japanese ambassador said he was a big fan.
'It was fantastic,' he said. 'In my life I have never had it before but it was just, just great.'
After taking a gulp of the older recipe Irn Bru, he added: 'It is just great,' while giving it a thumbs up.
The ambassador has become well known online for trying different foods around the UK.
A picture posted on X, formerly Twitter, of Mr Suzuki trying a teacake gained more than 46,000 likes, while his video of eating haggis gained more than 800,000 views on the platform.
Following a tour of the Auchentoshan Distillery, which is owned by the Japanese whisky firm Suntory, Mr Suzuki said Japanese people loved Scottish whisky.
He said Scotland was a 'very important' trading partner for Japan, adding: 'Japanese people love things like Scotch whisky, Scottish salmon, and recently, mackerel has been a great success.
'For the last couple of years, the export of mackerel from Scotland to Japan grew 10 times.'
I'm enjoying haggis!!👍😄 pic.twitter.com/iCt86hRfwl
— Hiroshi Suzuki (@AmbJapanUK) May 28, 2025
Mr Suzuki said he 'hoped' trade between Scotland and Japan would continue to grow.
The diplomat took part in a whisky tasting session with the First Minister, trying three drams.
Mr Swinney told PA that Auchentoshan Distillery was an 'excellent example' of the partnership between Scotland and Japan.
He said: 'It's been my pleasure over the last couple of days to host a visit from the Japanese ambassador to Scotland.
'We've been using our time to cement links and connections between Scotland and Japan, and particularly yesterday, to engage with Japanese business people who are investing in Scotland and who recognise Scotland as an attractive destination for investment, particularly in renewable energy, but also in life sciences, and as we see from our visit here today, in the whisky industry as well.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Scottish Colourist paintings reunited after more than 70 years ahead of auction
Samuel John Peploe's Firs At The Massif des Calanques, Cassis was displayed alongside Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell's Interior – Santa Maria della Salute, Venice at an exhibition in Edinburgh in 1949. They will feature in Lyon & Turnbull's Scottish paintings and sculpture auction on Thursday, with each estimated to fetch between £80,000 and £120,000. Firs At The Massif des Calanques, Cassis was painted in 1928 during the third of four trips Peploe made to the French port during a period of more than 25 years. Cadell painted the interior of Santa Maria della Salute, a church which stands at the entrance to the Grand Canal, following a visit he made to Venice in 1910. Both paintings featured in the Scottish Colourists exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy's Festival Exhibition in 1949, where work by their friend Leslie Hunter was also on show. Alice Strang, senior specialist with Lyon & Turnbull and an expert in the work of the Scottish Colourists, said: 'This is a 'friends reunited' moment. 'It is thrilling to think that the last time these two beautiful paintings, by artists who were such good friends, were in the same room was in 1949, when they were exhibited together in the Royal Scottish Academy, down the road from our saleroom. 'The Peploe transports us to the heat of Cassis, whilst the Cadell takes us to the beauty of Venice. 'Their remarkable reunion will last until the sale day this Thursday.'
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Reeves to announce £15bn for transport outside London ahead of spending review
The £15.6 billion package for mayoral authorities is expected to include funding to extend the metros in Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, along with a renewed tram network in South Yorkshire and a new mass transit systems in West Yorkshire. Announcing the investment in a speech in Manchester on Wednesday, the Chancellor will argue that Britain 'cannot rely on a handful of places forging ahead of the rest of the country' and champion a 'new economic model – driven by investment in all parts of the country'. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the funding marked a 'watershed moment' in improving transport in the North and Midlands (Andrew Matthews/PA) She is also expected to confirm that next week's spending review will include changes to the rules in the Treasury's Green Book that determine whether projects receive funding. Green Book rules have been criticised in some quarters for favouring investment in London and the South East, with Labour MP Jeevun Sandher, a member of the Commons Treasury Committee, saying in April it had a 'hardwired London bias'. Ms Reeves is expected to argue that changing the rules will ensure the Government 'gives every region a fair hearing when it comes to investments'. But it will also mean more money for areas of the North and Midlands, including the so-called 'Red Wall', where Labour MPs face an electoral challenge from Reform UK. The investment announced on Wednesday includes £2.4 billion for the West Midlands to fund an extension of the region's metro from Birmingham city centre to the new sports quarter, and £2.1 billion to start building West Yorkshire Mass Transit by 2028. Greater Manchester will receive £2.5 billion for projects including new tram stops in Bury, Manchester and Oldham and an extension of the tram network to Stockport. A £1.5 billion investment in South Yorkshire will include £530 million to renew the region's trams, while the East Midlands will receive £2 billion to design a new mass transit system between Derby and Nottingham. Chancellor Rachel Reeves on a train travelling to Wolverhampton (Stefan Rousseau/PA) In the south, the West of England will receive £800 million, including £200 million to develop mass transit links between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and north Somerset. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the announcement 'marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the North and Midlands – opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life'. Some projects being backed on Wednesday, such as the development of a mass transit network in West Yorkshire, formed part of Rishi Sunak's 'Network North' plan intended to compensate for the decision to scrap the HS2 line north of Birmingham. After coming to power last July, Labour launched a review of those projects, arguing they had not been fully funded. Wednesday's announcement is the first from the spending review due on June 11 that will set out the Government's day-to-day departmental budgets for the next three years and investment budgets for the next four. The review is expected to be a difficult one for the Government, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying the Chancellor faces 'unavoidably tough decisions' as the demands of NHS and defence spending raise the prospect of cuts in other departments.
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Reeves to announce £15bn for transport outside London ahead of spending review
The £15.6 billion package for mayoral authorities is expected to include funding to extend the metros in Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, along with a renewed tram network in South Yorkshire and a new mass transit systems in West Yorkshire. Announcing the investment in a speech in Manchester on Wednesday, the Chancellor will argue that Britain 'cannot rely on a handful of places forging ahead of the rest of the country' and champion a 'new economic model – driven by investment in all parts of the country'. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the funding marked a 'watershed moment' in improving transport in the North and Midlands (Andrew Matthews/PA) She is also expected to confirm that next week's spending review will include changes to the rules in the Treasury's Green Book that determine whether projects receive funding. Green Book rules have been criticised in some quarters for favouring investment in London and the South East, with Labour MP Jeevun Sandher, a member of the Commons Treasury Committee, saying in April it had a 'hardwired London bias'. Ms Reeves is expected to argue that changing the rules will ensure the Government 'gives every region a fair hearing when it comes to investments'. But it will also mean more money for areas of the North and Midlands, including the so-called 'Red Wall', where Labour MPs face an electoral challenge from Reform UK. The investment announced on Wednesday includes £2.4 billion for the West Midlands to fund an extension of the region's metro from Birmingham city centre to the new sports quarter, and £2.1 billion to start building West Yorkshire Mass Transit by 2028. Greater Manchester will receive £2.5 billion for projects including new tram stops in Bury, Manchester and Oldham and an extension of the tram network to Stockport. A £1.5 billion investment in South Yorkshire will include £530 million to renew the region's trams, while the East Midlands will receive £2 billion to design a new mass transit system between Derby and Nottingham. Chancellor Rachel Reeves on a train travelling to Wolverhampton (Stefan Rousseau/PA) In the south, the West of England will receive £800 million, including £200 million to develop mass transit links between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and north Somerset. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the announcement 'marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the North and Midlands – opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life'. Some projects being backed on Wednesday, such as the development of a mass transit network in West Yorkshire, formed part of Rishi Sunak's 'Network North' plan intended to compensate for the decision to scrap the HS2 line north of Birmingham. After coming to power last July, Labour launched a review of those projects, arguing they had not been fully funded. Wednesday's announcement is the first from the spending review due on June 11 that will set out the Government's day-to-day departmental budgets for the next three years and investment budgets for the next four. The review is expected to be a difficult one for the Government, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying the Chancellor faces 'unavoidably tough decisions' as the demands of NHS and defence spending raise the prospect of cuts in other departments.
