Reiki History Time-Line: Part 2
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This article was written and Copyright (c) 2002-3 by James Deacon, who's Master-level Reiki Healing Facilitator & Practitioner of Qi-Magnetic Therapeutics. See James' site: www.aetw.org. James Deacon does not necessarily endorse the methodology, techniques or philosophy of individual modalities detailed in his articles.
Make sure to read the part 1of the article, before proceeding.
Reiki History Time-Line: Part 2
What follows is a basic 'Timeline' - setting currently accepted (2003/4) Reiki-related-events (from the birth of Mikao Usui, to the death of Chujiro Hayashi) in the broader context of Japanese society at the time.
| 1923 | Torii gate at entrance to Amataka shrine in Taniai village erected by Usui-Sensei and his family. | |
| 1923 | Over 106,000 people reported missing or killed, 500,000 injured and 694,000 houses were destroyed, in an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale - the epicentre was about 50 miles from Tokyo. Usui-Sensei apparently became quite famous as a result of helping many of the survivors, and his success and reputation with Reiki is said to have spread all over Japan. | |
| Feb 1924 | Usui-Sensei moved his Centre to larger premises in Nakano, outside of Tokyo. | |
| Jun 26, 1924 | Crown Prince Hirohito married the daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni, Nagako | |
| 1924 | US passed an Immigration Act banning Japanese from emigrating to the US | |
| 1925 | Taisho Government passed the Chian Iji Ho (Peace Preservation Law / Public Security Act). Primarily intended to stem the spread of Socialist thought, the Chian Iji Ho was also implemented to control the growth and activities of religious and spiritual groups considered to be promoting 'dangerous thoughts' - i.e. ideas in any way conflicting with, or critical of, the official views and doctrines of the State. | |
| March 1925 | Males over the age of 25 were given the vote | |
| May 1925 | A further group of Tendai nuns are said to have arrived at the Usui Sensei's Training Centre (staying until the November of that year). | |
| May 1925 | Chujiro Hayashi arrived at the training centre | |
| June 1925 | Chujiro Hayashi received Sandan level training from Usui-Sensei | |
| Nov 1925 | 18 junior
Naval Officers and the Rear Admirals: Juusaburo Gyuda (also
known as Ushida) and Kanichi Taketomi | |
| 1925/26 | Kaiji
Tomita learned Reiki around this period, and later taught
Reiki in the 4-level format introduced by the Naval Officers.
| |
| Jan 1926 | It
seems the grading levels were apparently changed once more to:
Shoden (which now included Chuuden, and had four sub-levels),
Okudenzenki (previously: Okuden), Okudenkouki and Shinpiden
(the latter two covering what had formerly been taught as Kaiden),
with the Shinpiden level having almost the same content as the
Sandan level in the grading system originally used by Usui-Sensei. It is said that while Gyuda and Taketomi achieved the Shinpiden level of proficiency, Hayashi-Sensei had continued his training in keeping with the earlier grading system, in time achieving the level of Shichidan. Apparently, the only other person to reach this level was Toshihiro Eguchi and it is said that both Eguchi and Hayashi-Sensei continued teaching the original Usui-Do system along with their own healing systems for several years after Usui-Sensei's death. | |
| March
9 1926 | Usui-Sensei travelled to Fukuyama town to meet with his creditors, and died there as a result of a stroke (he had apparently had several previous ones) | |
*
* * | ||
| 1926 | Mariko-Obaasan
and her friend remained at the training centre for some months
after Usui-Sensei's death, then left. Apparently, while they were still there, some of Usui-Sensei's remains were placed in a private shrine along with a large portrait photograph of him and the original copy of the 5 Precepts that had hung in the training centre. | |
| 1926 | A few months after Usui-Sensei's death, Hayashi-Sensei (with the cooperation and assistance of Ushida and Taketomi) is believed to have moved Usui-Sensei's training centre to the Shinano Machi district (where apparently his own clinic was) | |
| Dec 25, 1926 | Hirohito became the Emperor Showa. However, he would not be formally enthroned for almost another two years | |
| 1926/27 | According to some, Rear Admiral Juusaburo Gyuda and other students formed the "Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai" (Usui Reiki Healing Method Learning Society[/Association])"', posthumously honouring Usui-Sensei by naming him as the first 'president' of the society. | |
Feb | Usui-Sensei's students said to have erected the memorial stone which amongst other things, mentions Mount Kurama as the site of Usui-Sensei's receipt of the Reiki phenomenon. The stone stands beside the Usui family tomb in the graveyard at the Saihoji temple, Tokyo. | |
| March 1927 | A marker-stone was erected atop the family tomb by Fuji Usui. The tomb would later also become the resting place for Usui-sensei's wife, Sadoko, and both their children) | |
| 1927 | A woman named Chio Uno (1898-1996) scandalized Japanese society by cutting her hair short! | |
| 1928 | Wasaburo Sugano (Uncle of Mrs Chiyoko Yamaguchi) learned Reiki from Hayashi Sensei | |
| Mar 4, 1928 | Article about Reiki by Shou Matsui (a student of Chujiro Hayashi ) appears in a Japanese magazine: 'The Sunday Mainichi' | |
| 1928 | Toshihiro Eguchi established his own school: Eguchi Te-no-hira Ryoji Kenkyukai (Palm Treatment Research Association) | |
| 1928 | A book entitled "The Essentials of Seiki Self-Healing", by Jozo Ishii was published by the Seiki Ryoho Institute. The term: Seiki translates as 'Vital Life-Force' | |
| 1929 | Eguchi began teaching his healing system to members of Tenko Nishida's Ittoen Community | |
| 1930 | Hayashi-Sensei had begun to restructure his own system, referred to as: Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Kenkyukai - something which would in time evolve into the therapeutic modality learned by Takata-Sensei between 1935 and 1938, and later presented by her as 'Usui Shiki Ryoho'. | |
| 1930 | Hawayo Takata's husband, Saichi, died. | |
| 1930 | Toshihiro Eguchi published: Te-no-hira Ryoji Nyumon (An Introduction to Healing with the Palms) | |
| 1931 | Hayashi-Sensei
left the Gakkai. By this time he apparently stopped teaching
the original Usui-Do system, although he had conferred Shichidan
status on Tatsumi
and at least 11 other students. Eguchi had also left the Gakkai by this time (some suggest he had joined the Gakkai for a year out of respect to Usui, but left because he was unhappy with the ultra-nationalistic attitudes of the Naval Officers), however he continued to teach Usui-Do alongside his own system - one of his Shichidan level students being Yuji Onuki. | |
| 1933/4 | Kaiji Tomita, who, after Usui-Sensei's death, went on to establish the 'Tomita Teate Ryohokai' (Tomita Hand-Healing Centre), wrote a book entitled: Reiki To Jinjutsu - Tomita Ryu Teate Ryoho (Reiki & Humanitarian Work - Tomita Ryu Hand Healing. | |
| 1935 | Chiyoko Yamaguchi's elder sister Katsue studied Reiki in Daishoji in the North of Japan | |
| 1935 | Usui-Sensei's daughter, Toshiko, died | |
1935 | Hawayo
Takata travelled to Yamaguchi City, Japan to inform her parents
of the death of one of her sisters, and also brought her late
husband's ashes to be interred in Kyoto. After receiving Reiki treatment for several health conditions, Hawayo Takata was accepted into a one-year internship at Hayashi-Sensei's clinic. Some months later, Hawayo Takata moved into the Hayashi's home - essentially as an uchideshi - a live-in student who receives special training. | |
1936 | On
completion of internship, Hawayo Takata initiated into second
degree | |
1936 | It
is suggested by some that Hawayo Takata and Hayashi-Sensei's
wife: Chie, both received the master level initiation some
time late in the year. | |
Oct. 1936 | Takata-Sensei
returned to Hawaii. | |
1937 | Hayashi-Sensei,
accompanied by his daughter, travelled to Hawaii, and they
embarked on a lecture tour to promote the art of Reiki Healing. | |
Feb,
21 1938 | Takata-Sensei
certified by Chujiro Hayashi as: "a practitioner and
Master of Dr. Usui's Reiki system of healing" | |
| 1938 | Chiyoko Yamaguchi began studying Reiki in Daishoji in the North of Japan | |
| Jan
1, 1940 | Hawayo Takata had a nocturnal vision of Hayashi-Sensei. Fearing something was wrong, she wrote to her daughter who was living with the Hayashis while attending school in Tokyo. Although her daughter replied that all seemed well, Takata remained disturbed by the vision for some time, eventually deciding to set sail for Japan in late March | |
| April
12, 1940 | Takata arrived at Yokahama and made her way to Tokyo. On her arrival, Hayashi-Sensei instructed her to go to Kyoto and study Hydrotherapy. | |
| May
9, 1940 | Hayashi -Sensei wired Takata to come immediately to his summer Villa in Atami, near Mt. Fuji. | |
May
10, 1940 | Cognisant
of the likely entry of Japan into what we now designate W.W.II,
and of the moral and ethical conflict between resuming military
duty and his Reiki values, Hayashi Sensei - in the presence
of Takata Sensei and his other students - committed seppuku
(suicide). It is said that Hayashi-Sensei was cremated
and his ashes interred at a Temple in Tokyo. | |
1940 | Prior
to committing suicide, Hayashi-Sensei apparently bequeathed
his Tokyo home (and his Clinic?) to Takata-Sensei, leaving
the Atami villa to his wife. It was his wish, it seems, that
Takata -Sensei continue his work. However, she decided to
return to Hawaii - allowing Chie Hayashi to continue to live
in the Tokyo house. Chie, it seems, also took over the running
of the Hayashi Reiki Ryoho Kenkyukai clinic | |
Partly,
one assumes, as a result of Japan's entry into the war, Takata-Sensei
is said to have lost contact with both the Hayashi Reiki Ryoho
Kenkyukai itself and with other Japanese Reiki practitioners.
[However, in one of her recorded talks, Takata Sensei states that fourteen years after Hayashi Sensei's death, she made a return visit to Japan and met with his wife Chie, handing back ownership of the Tokyo property to her] |
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