Historical/Social background of Japan and of “hands-on
healers” or “Reijutsu-ka” in the times of Usui Sensei
Usui Mikao Sensei（臼井甕男 先生）born on August 15th in the first year of Keio（慶応）(1865 C.E.), died on March 9th in the 15th year of Taisho（大正）(1926 C.E.)
Japanese Era Name, Gengo (元号): Keio (慶応) < 1865 – 1868 > Meiji (明治) < 1868 – 1912 > Taisho (大正) < 1912 – 1926 > Showa (昭和) < 1926 – 1989 > Heisei (平成) < 1989 - >
Usui Sensei was born at the end of Edo
Period (1600 – 1868), the age of feudalism, when Tokugawa
Shogunate ( the government of * a Shogun 将軍) was ruling
Japan.
* Shogun: The hereditary commander of the army of “Samurai” warriors who until 1867 exercised the absolute rule (dominion) under the nominal leadership of the emperor.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
徳川家康(将軍) Tokugawa Ieyasu (Shogun) (1542 – 1616), the
founder of Tokugawa Shogunate
明治天皇 Emperor Meiji (1867 – 1912), the 122nd Emperor of
Japan ↓
神武天皇
Emperor Jinmu, the very first Emperor of Japan
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
What was happening in Japan and in the world?
1865 C.E.
Usui Mikao Sensei was born on August 15.
British minister plenipotentiary Sir Harry Smith Parkes
arrives in Japan. Ernest Mason Satow and William George
Aston, who later become renowned as Japanologists, serve him
as interpreters.
* The American Civil War is over. * President Lincoln fatally shot. * Gregor Mendel discovers “Law of Heredity”.
1866 C.E.
Satsuma-Choshu Alliance is formed against the Tokugawa
shogunate. The army of the shogun engages the enemy forces
of the Choshu domain in the second Choshu Military
Expeditions; Shogunate’s army suffers a defeat, which
severely damages its prestige.
* North America and Europe are connected by a 2,500 mile (4,023 km) long telegraph cable. * Seven Week’s War; Austria defeated by Prussia and Italy.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1867 C.E.
大 政 奉 還 TAISEI HOKAN (Return of Political
Dominion to the Emperor):Formal return of political
dominion (rule) to the emperor by the last
shogun,Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Japan ends 270-year
Tokugawa Shogunate and 675-year shogun rule. Taisei
Hokan was performed at Nijo Castle in Kyoto.
大政奉還 Taisei Hokan at Nijo Castle in Kyoto
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
坂 本 龍 馬 Sakamoto Ryoma (1836-1867), a lordless
samurai, played a prominent role in the negotiations that
led to the voluntary resignation of Shogun, Toyotomi
Yoshinobu, in 1867. Ryoma was assassinated at the age
of 31 on the night of December 10, 1867 in Kyoto. just
before the Meiji Restoration took place.
↑ 坂本龍馬 Sakamoto Ryoma
* 1867: Alfred Nobel patents dynamite in Great Britain. : Karl Marx publishes the first volume of “Das Kapital” in Berlin. : Austria-Hungary Duel Monarchy established. : U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1868 C.E.
Usui Sensei was 3 years old.
明治維新 Restoration of Imperial Dominion (January 3,
1868); Meiji Restoration is initiated.
The city of Edo is renamed “Tokyo” (eastern capital).Tokyo
becomes the
official seat of Japanese government the following year..
The emperor adopts the era name (Gengo) “Meiji”
(Enlightened Rule).
Meiji Period begins.
* 1868 : Revolution in Spain; Queen Isabella deposed,flees to France. * 1869 : Transcontinental railroad completed in the United States. * 1870 : Franco-Russian War(1870-71) begins.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
明治時代 “ MEIJI” PERIOD (1868 – 1912)
The Meiji Restoration of direct imperial dominion commenced
the Meiji Period and began Japan’s transformation into a modern
industrial society.
Restoration leaders reformed former feudal domains into a
modern nation-state, established a centralized bureaucracy,
enacted a new land tax system, and created a modern conscript
army.
Abolition of feudal classes and the establishment of
universal education helped create a unified national polity. The
1889 Constitution of the Empire of Japan established the first
parliamentary government in Asia. During the latter part of
period Japan emerged as a major imperialist power through
victories in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the
Russo-Japanes War (1904-05) and the annexation of Korea in
1910.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
大正時代 TAISHO PERIOD ( 1912 – 1926)
The Taisho period was marked by the advent of true party government, increased popular involvement in politics, the growth of organized labor and left-wing movement and a domestic economic boom fueled by World WarⅠ.
The democratic tendencies of the period, often referred to as
Taisho Democracy, were supported by the emergence of an educated urban middle class and the rise of new forms of mass media such as radio, large-circulation newspapers, magazines and paperback books. Eventually, however, an economic downturn and authoritarian measures such as the enactment of the Peace
Preservation Law of 1925 and the expansion of the Special
Higher Police began to erode the gains made by Japan’s first experiment with democracy.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1912 C.E.
USUI Sensei was 47 year old.
Death of Emperor Meiji ; accession of Emperor Taisho.
Japan sends two athletes to the 5th Summer Olympic Games
at Stockholm.
Yuai-kai (Friendship Association) formed; begins the
organization of Japanese labor.
* 1912: Republic of Chine established with Sun Yat-sen (Son Issen) as president; Emperor Puyi abdicates. : Titanic sinks on maiden voyage; over 1,500 drown. : New Mexico and Arizona admitted as states. * 1913: Niels Bohr clarifies the structure of the atom. : Woodrow Wilson becomes 28th U.S. president.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1914 C.E.
USUI sensei was 49 years old.
Japan enters World WarⅠon the side of Great Britain and
its allies.
* 1914: Archduke Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo; World WarⅠbegins. : Panama Canal officially opened. * 1915: Albert Einstein presents General Theory of Relativity.
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靈術 (Rei-jutsu) and 靈術家 (Rei-jutsu-ka)
靈 (Rei = spirit, psyche or mind)
術 (Jutsu = the art or skill)
Rei-jutsu lieterally means: the art of spirit (human psyche or mind) or the art of a mental-healing.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
A viewpoint of Rei-jutsu is that the diseases can be healed by the power of human mind.
靈術家 Rei-jutsu-ka means: a person who practices Rei-jutsu.
***
Rei-jutsu was a folk remedy or alternative medicine, and it was widely accepted and recognized by Japanese people during the period of mid-Taisho (1918 -1926) and the beginning of Showa
(1926 – 1930).
Rei-jutsu was known as the art of “the mind-cure or mental healing” and considered the mind as the key to physical health and saw that the mind could overcome any illness which originated in the mind.
There was keen interest in alternatives to Western medicine which had made inroads into Japanese medical setting since
Meiji Restoration(1868).
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
People were not happy with too much of Westernization and modernization nor with Western medicine, because medical practice was crude and frightening and lacking effectiveness.
(Western medicine was not so advanced as the present day.)
Rei-jutsu was booming during Taisho period (1912 – 1926) and the
Beginning of Showa period(1926 – 1930). It was like “A Great
Awakening” movement among Japanese people.
The period nurtured a proliferation of Rei-jutsu and
Rei-jutsu-ka. There were about 30,000 Rei-jutsu healers all over
Japan (as of 1927). Rei-jutsu healers mostly used “the laying on of hands” method.
USUI Mikao Sensei(臼井甕男), the founder of Usui Reiki Roho
(臼井靈氣療法), was one of Rei-jutsu healers.
KAWAKAMI Mataji (川上又次) published a book titled “Reiki
Ryoho and its efficacy” in the 8th year of Taisho (1919).
He used the word “Reiki Ryoho” 靈氣療法 before Usui Sensei.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
Some of the well-known Rei-jutsu-ka:
鈴木美山（清次郎） Dr. SUZUKI Bizan (Seijiro) (1879 - ?)
The founder of Teikoku Kenzen Testugaku Kan (House of
Imperial Philosophy of Soundness)
He created “Tetsuri Ryoho” (philosophical therapy) after having
Studied Christian Science in the United States.
He published a book “Kenzen no Genri” (the Principle of
Soundness) in the 3rd year of Taisho (1914), a part of which became the source of Usui Reiki Ryoho Principles (Gokai).
The phrase titled 健全の道 Kenzen no Michi “ A Path to Soundness” reads:
今日だけは(kyo dake wa) TODAY ONLY 怒らず (ikarazu) BE NOT ANGRY 恐れず (osore zu) BE NOT FEARFUL 正直に (shojiki ni) WITH HONESTY 職務を励み (shokumu wo hagemi) PERFORM DILIGENTLY YOUR DUTY 人に親切に (hitoni shinsetsu ni) BE KIND TO OTHERS
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
岡田茂吉 OKADA Mokichi (1882-1955), the founder of Sekai
Kyusei Kyo, a new religion , was one of Suzuki’s students. He founded this new belief system with “hand-healing” called
JOREI in the 10th year of Showa (1935).
谷口雅春 TANIGUCHI Masaharu, the founder of Seicho-no-Ie”, the largest New Thought-oriented religion, was also one of
Suzuki’s students. He launched “ Komyo( enlightenment)
Movement” in the 6th year of Showa (1931).
桑原天然（俊郎）KUWAHARA Tennen (Toshiro) (1873-1906), the father of Rei-jutsu.
He inspired TANAKA Morihei to found Tai-Rei-Do (太靈道靈子
術), SHIMIZU Choshu (清水長州) to be the founder of Shurei
Kyoka Dan (修靈教化団), EMA Koho (江間高峰), to set up Ema
Shiki Rei Jutsu (江間式靈術), and KUWATA Kinji to found
Teikoku Shinrei Kenkyu Kai (帝国心霊研究会) (Imperial Study
Society of Spiritualism).
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
It was the golden age of Rei-jutsu during the period of mid-Taisho (1918 -1926) and the beginning of Showa (1926 –
1930).
Rei-jutsu-ka appeared one after another. Osteopathy and
Chiropractic were introduced from America, and “Shiatsu” therapy was developed.
Usui Sensei lived in this golden age of Rei-jutsu when he was at the age of between 53 years old and 61 year old.
* 村上辰午郎 MURAKAMI Tatsugoro – 村上式注意術
Mrakami-shiki Chui Jutsu。
* 大山靈泉 OYAMA Reisen – 靈掌術 Rei-Sho-Jutsu
* 清水長州（英範）SHIMIZU Choshu – 精神統一法
Seishin-Toitsu-Ho
* 桑田欣児 KUWATA Kinji – 心霊自動療法 Shinrei Jido Ryoho
* 溝田象堂 MIZOTA Shodo – 修靈道診断法 Shurei-do
Shindan Ho
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
* 高木秀輔 TAKAGI Shusuke – 断食法及靈氣術 Danjiki
Ho/Reiki Jutsu
* 中村天風 NAKAMURA Tenpu – 統一哲医学会 Toitsu Tetsui
Gakkai
* 松原皎月 MATSUBARA Kogetsu – 洗心流靈氣療法
Senshin-ryu Reiki Ryoho
* 富田魁二 TONIDA Kaiji – 富田流手あて療法 Tomida-ryu
Teate Ryoho
* 江口俊博 EGUCHI Toshihiro – 手のひら療治 Tenohira
Ryochi
Most of Rei-jutsu-ka published their books and encouraged people to purchase the books and learn their own healing modalities. They also run a lot of advertisements in newspapers and magazines.
On the other hand,
Usui Sensei did not publish any book, nor run any advertisement.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
He kept his system as simple and practical as possible, while
other Rei-jutsu-ka tried to add on more and more techniques and
made their systems more theoretical.
Most of Rei-jutsu systems vanished with the death of the
founder and could not survive the World WarⅡ, except …
Usui Reiki Ryoho and some other systems that evolved into a new
religion such as Sekai Kyusei Kyo and its Jorei healing or into
body work system such as Noguchi Seitai (body-balance) and
“Shiatsu” or into health-oriented diet system such as
“macrobiotic” diet.
1917 C.E.
Usui Sensei was 52 year old.
Lansing –Ishii Agreement: The United States and Japan agree
to uphold the Open Door Policy in China.
* 1917: October Revolution in Russia. Bolsheviks seize power in armed coup d’état led by Lenin and Trotsky.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1920 C.E.
Usui Sensei was 55 year old.
League of Nations holds first meeting at Geneva, Switzerland.
Japan is granted permanent membership in the League Council.
Labor activists gather in Tokyo’s Ueno Park for the first
celebration of May Day in Japan.
Nihon Shakai Shugi Domei (Japan Socialist League) founded;
the government orders it to dissolve in 1921.
* 1920: Women’s suffrage ratified in the U.S.A. : First Agatha Christie mystery;The Mysterious Affair at Styles published. : Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street published.
1921 C.E.
Usui Sensei was 56 years old.
Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor Showa) becomes regent
to the ailing Emperor Taisho.
* 1921: German inflation begins. : Major treaties signed at Washington Disarmament Conference.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1922 C.E.
Usui Sensei was 57 years old.
Usui Sensei climbed Kurama-yama (mountain) in Kyoto and
after 21 days of a severe discipline without eating, he
suddenly felt One Great Reiki over his head and attained
Satori (enlightenment) at 大杉権現 Osugi Gongen area on 鞍馬
山 Kurama-yama in the north of Kyoto, an ancient capital city
of Japan. He accidentally realized that he was given the
mysterious healing ability when he felt the great power and
was inspired by the mystery during a period of fasting. He was
not taught the art of healing by anyone nor studied to obtain
ability to heal. He thought that this wonderful gift of healing
should be made available for the good of humankind so that
anyone can be blessed with this heavenly gift. Thus, he went
back to Tokyo and settled in Harajuku, Aoyama, Tokyo and set
up “Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai” 臼井靈氣療法学会 in April, 1922
to teach Reiki Ryoho and offer Reiki treatments.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
The reason he ventured to teach openly was to save all fellow
countrymen from troubled minds and from diseases.
< Sources: Hikkei/Memorial >
Japanese Communist Party established; frequently suppressed
by the government, it is not legally constituted until after the
Word WarⅡ.
Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is
completed.
1922: Benito Mussolini forms Fascist government in Italy. : Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, overthrows the last sultan.
1923 C.E.
Usui Sensei was 58 years old.
Tokyo Earthquake of 1923 (Great Kanto Earthquake); assigned
a magnitude of 7.9, resulted in more than 100,000 deaths.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
Usui Sensei, feeling pity for the wounded, went out every
morning to go around the town, and cured and saved an
innumerable number of the earthquake victims.
< Source: Memorial stone>
Torano-mon Incident: assassination attempt on Prince Regent
Hirohito.
1923: Adolf Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich fails; in 1924 he was sentenced to 5 years in prison where he writes Mein Kampf. : Bessie Smith, known as “Empress of the Blues” makes her first record. : Irish poet William Butler Yeats wins Nobel Prize in Literature.
1925 C.E.
Usui Senei was 60 years old.
As the “Dojo” (Usui Sensei’s place) became too small, the new
suburban house was built in February at Nakano, Tokyo.
Soviet-Japanese Basic convention signed; diplomatic relations
between Japan and the Soviet Union established.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
Enactment of the Peace Preservation Law of 1925; freedoms
of speech and assembly severely restricted.
Universal Manhood Suffrage Law passed.
First regular radio broadcasting begun by the Tokyo
Broadcasting Station.
1924: Death of Lenin; Stalin wins power struggle, rules as Soviet dictator until death in 1953. 1925: Nellie Taylor Ross elected governor of Wyoming; the first woman governor elected in U.S. : John Logie Baird, Scottish inventor. transmits human features by television. : Hitler publishes VolumeⅠof Mein Kampf .
1926 C.E.
Usui Senei was 61 years old.
Due to Usui Sensei’s respected and far-reaching reputation
many people from local districts wished to invite him. Sensei,
accepting the invitations, went to Kure and then to Hiroshima
and Saga (Kyushu), and reached Fukuyama (Hiroshima).
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
Unexpectedly he became ill and passed away there. It was
March 9th of the 15th year of Taisho (1926), aged 61. ( aged 62
in old Japanese way of counting an age)
< Source: Memorial stone >
Death of Emperor Taisho; accession of Emperor Showa.
Showa period (1926 – 1989) begins.
Labor-Farmer Party formed. Socialist People’s Party formed.
Japan Labor-Farmer Party formed.
1926: General strike in Britain brings nation’s activities to standstill. : Gertrude Ederie of U.S. is the first woman to swim English Channel. : Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises published.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
Emperor Showa 昭和天皇
昭和時代 SHOWA PERIOD ( 1926 – 1989)
The Showa period was one of the most turbulent in Japanese history. In its first decades an ultranationalist coalition of right-wind politicians and army officers seized control of the country, engaging in domestic political repression and setting
Japan on a course of militarist expansionism in continental Asia that culminated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45 and entry into World WarⅡ.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
Japan’s defeat ushered in a period of Occupation by Allied military forces and in sweeping democratic reforms that included a new Constitution of Japan.
The postwar decades saw reentry into the international community and phenomenal economic growth that transformed
Japan into the world’s second largest economy by the end of
Showa period.
1927 C.E.
In February the Memorial stone “ Memorial of the merits of
Usui Sensei, the founder of Rei Ho (Reiki Ryoho).” was erected
beside Usui family gravesite by Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai
headed by the 2nd President, Ushida Juzaburo (Navy Rear
Admiral).
1927: Charles Lindbergh flies the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris. : German economy collapses. Socialists riot in Vienna.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
靈法肇祖臼井先生功徳之碑
REIHO CHOSO USUI SENSEI KUDOKU NO HI
Usui Sensei’s Buddhist name:
Reizan-in Shuyo Tenshin Koji 靈山院秀譽天心居士
俗名: 臼井甕男 Secular name: USUI Mikao
大正十五年三月九日没 Deceased, on March 9th, 15th Year of Taisho (1926 CE)
靈山院＝Reizan-in (Holy Mountain Temple)
秀譽＝ Shuyo (Excellence & Honor)
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
天心＝Tenshin (Heaveely Mind)
居士＝Koji (male Buddhist)
Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (as of 1928)
President: Ushida Juzaburo (2nd President)
Shihan: 5 Dai Shihan (Great Shihan), 11 Shihan
Member: 7,000 members. Local Chapter: 55 chapters
After Usui Sensei’s Transition:
HAYASHI Chujiro(林 忠次郎) Sensei (1879-1940), a captain
of the Imperial Navy of Japan, was made Shihan in 1925 by
Usui Sensei (aged 60) after his retirement from the Navy. He
was the last disciple of Usui Sensei.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
He made Mrs. Hawayo TAKATA, Japanese American born in
Hawaii, a Shinpiden student before she returned to Hwaii in
1937.
(Mrs. Takata made a trip to Japan in 1935 to receive medical
treatment for her diseases, and became a student of Hayashi
Sensei.)
Hayashi Sensei visited Hawaii in 1937 and 1938, and he made
Mrs.Takata a Shihan in February 21st, 1938.
She became the very first Reiki Master in the West.
*** What were happening in those days?
1932: Shanghai Incident; Chinese and Japanese
troops clash in Shanghai.
1932: Japanese Kanto (Kwantung) Army establishes
the state of Manchukuo; The last Qing dynasty
(1644-1912) emperor, Puyi, is made the emperor of
the state in 1934.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1933: Japan withdraws from the League of Nations
to express its opposition to the report of the Lytton
Commission, which criticizes Japan as aggressor in
Manchuria.
1933: Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany.
1935: Roosevelt opens second phase of New Deal in
U.S.
1935: Mussolini invades Ethiopia.
1935: Mrs. Hawayo Takata in Hawaii visited Japan to
receive medical treatment.
1937: Marco Polo Bridge Incident: Shino-Japanese
War of 1937-1945 begins to continue through World
WarⅡ.
1937: Italy withdraws from League of Nations.
1937: Mrs. Takata becomes a Shinpiden student and
returns home to Hawaii. Hayashi Sensei visits her.
1938: Hayashi Sensei visits Hawaii and makes Mrs.
Takata a Shihan, the first Reiki Master in the West.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1938: Hitler marches into Austria; political and
geographical union of Germany and Austria
proclaimed.
1939: Germany invades Poland; World WarⅡbegins
in Europe.
1940: Tripartite Pact signed by Japan, Germany and
Italy.
1940: Hayashi Chujiro Sensei commits suicide.
1941: Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact signed.
1941: Pacific War commences: Japan declares war on
the United States, Great Britain and the
Netherlands.
1945 :
Mussolini killed at Lake Como (April 28).
Hitler commits suicide (April 30).
: Germany signs unconditional surrender (May 7).
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai
1945 :
: US president Harry Truman, Soviet premier
Joseph Stalin and British prime minister Winston
Churchill call for the unconditional surrender of
Japan in the Potsdam Declaration.
: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Aug.6) and
Nagasaki (Aug.9) by U.S.
: Japan agrees to surrender and accepts the terms
of the Potsdam Declaration (Aug. 14).
: Emperor Showa announces the end of hostilities in
a national radio broadcast (Aug. 15).
: Document of Surrender signed aboard the
battleship USS Missouri (Sept.2).
United Nations Charter signed at San Francisco by
delegates from 50 nations (Oct. 24); Japan joins in
1956.
光明レイキ会 Komyo Reiki Kai