Description

Shiatsu, as well as Teate, originated in Japan. There were many hands-on therapies called Teate before traditional Chinese therapies such as Acupuncture and Tuina (called Anma in Japan) were introduced to Japan. The term Shiatsu might be first cited in a 1915 book, Tenpaku Tamai’s Shiatsu Ryōhō.Tokujiro Namikoshi founded the Japan Shiatsu College in 1940 and systematized a form of Shiatsu therapy based on Western anatomy and physiology. In Japan, Namikoshi’s system enjoys special legal status, and its adherents often credit him with the development of Shiatsu; the story is told that at age seven, Tokujiro Namikoshi developed a technique of pressing with his thumbs and palms as he tried to nurse his mother who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.Namikoshi treated many high profile persons such as former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida and other successive prime ministers, the prosecutor for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Prosecutor Keenan, as well as celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali. In this way, Shiatsu became known not only in Japan but also overseas.Other styles of Shiatsu exist; adherents of the Namikoshi system generally contend that these are derived from the work of Namikoshi and refer to them as Derivative Shiatsu.Tadashi Izawa established Meridian Shiatsu, incorporating Meridian Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into his Shiatsu therapy.Shizuto Masunaga’s book, called Zen Shiatsu in English, popularized Zen (or Masunaga) Shiatsu in North America and Europe.Ryukyu Endo, a Buddhist priest, introduced Tao Shiatsu, which involves concentrating the mind and making supplications to the Buddha.Kiyoshi Ikenaga, in his book Tsubo Shiatsu, elucidates from an anatomical and physiological point of view, how meridian points (or tsubo) are useful in Shiatsu therapy.Since 1980 the evolution and development of Shiatsu has largely taken place in Europe and North America:Wataru Ohashi has developed a style called Ohashiatsu.Pauline Sasaki and Cliff Andrews have developed a form, derived from Zen Shiatsu, called Quantum Shiatsu, which aims to work with different levels of a person’s energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.Bill Palmer and David Ventura have developed Movement Shiatsu, which specialises in working with chronic conditions through specific experiments and exercises.http://www.lelong.com.my/Auc/List/2005-01DxStdL576766_AUCTIO…