A BRIEF HISTORY OF REIKI

The system of natural healing known in the West as Reiki was developed in Japan early in the last century by Mikao Usui, a widely traveled man who was educated in many disciplines. Usui established a clinic in Tokyo and traveled throughout Japan, treating the sick and teaching Reiki. He died in 1926 at the age of 62. In the mid-1930s, Hawayo Takata, an American of Japanese descent, visited the Tokyo clinic of one of Usui’s students, Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Following her recovery from several serious health conditions, she remained in Japan to study with Dr. Hayashi. Mrs. Takata returned to Hawaii in the late 1930s and established a clinic in Hilo. She began teaching Reiki on the U.S. mainland in the 1970’s. Before her death in 1980 she had trained 22 teachers (Masters). Reiki has spread rapidly throughout the world in the years since, and practitioners are now found in almost every country.