The Short Story of Reiki

Reiki was founded by a man named Mikao Usui, born in Japan in 1865. Usui was a spiritual man and practicing Buddhist who avidly studied many different philosophies, as well as history, medicine and psychology. He was married and had two children. According to his memorial stone, around the year 1922 Usui underwent a 21-day meditation and fast on Mount Kurama where Reiki energy was revealed to him. 

He discovered that he had the ability to connect with healing energy for himself and others.  Returning home, he established the Usui Reiki Healing Society. He spent the next few years offering Reiki healings to the public, traveling and speaking. People came from all over the country to receive treatments from Usui, and he initiated over 2000 students to the practice of Reiki. He treated victims of the 1923 Tokyo earthquake and fire that affected hundreds of thousands of people. Mikao Usui died in 1926 at age 62.

Among Usui’s Reiki Master students was a man named Chujiro Hayashi, a retired naval captain and medical doctor. After Usui’s death, Dr. Hayashi established his own Reiki clinic and school, teaching many students and developing a healing guide and handbook. His most notable student was a Hawaiian woman of Japanese origin, Hawayo Takata. She is responsible for introducing Reiki to the West. She received her Reiki training in Japan then returned to Hawaii to open her own practice. She actively taught and practiced Reiki in Hawaii and on the mainland for over forty years. Upon her death in 1980, she had trained 22 Master students who have carried on her legacy. 

Today, Reiki is worldwide phenomenon, practiced by people of many cultures and many faiths. The practice of Reiki since Usui’s time has evolved to include different branches and styles of practice. Reiki is widely becoming recognized as a viable complementary healing technique and is being integrated into conventional medical practices. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the government's lead agency for scientific research on diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products, considers Reiki a type of energy medicine and is among those funding research into Reiki.