Reiki Brief History

· Mikao Usui (1865-1926) founded the practice of Reiki in Japan near the beginning of the 20th century (the energy has always existed).

· There are conflicting accounts in the Reiki literature of its precise origins, and what took place during the years immediately following its introduction.

· What is known is that Usui made Chujiro Hayashi (1879-1940) a Reiki Master, and that Hayashi ran a Reiki clinic in Tokyo. It was to this clinic that Mrs. Hawayo Takata (1900-1980), an American citizen and resident of Hawaii, came for treatments. After being cured, she was allowed to learn Reiki and apprenticed at Hayashi's clinic. She attained the Second Degree level before returning to Hawaii in 1936.

· After her return to Hawaii, Mrs. Takata opened her first Reiki clinic. Not long after, Hayashi visited Mrs. Takata in Hawaii. On February 21, 1938, Hayashi signed a notarized certificate in Honolulu, Hawaii, stating among other things that:

· MRS. HAWAYO TAKATA is hereby certified by me as a practitioner and Master of Dr. Usui's Reiki system of healing, at this time the only person in the United States authorized to confer similar powers on others and one of the thirteen fully qualified as a Master of the profession.

· Before she passed away in December 1980, Mrs. Takata made 22 Reiki Masters. Today, Reiki has spread throughout the world. Most Reiki practitioners and teachers, even in Japan, can trace their lineages back to Mrs. Takata.