Reiki was born in Japan in the early twentieth century through Mikao Usui (1865–1926), who systematised a hands-on method and transmitted it through an association founded in Tokyo in 1922. From there it reached the West mid-century, and today it is practised almost everywhere.
That is the main line. Now the nuances — which is where most articles on this subject fall apart.
Who was Mikao Usui
Usui Mikao was born in 1865 in Japan, at a time of deep transformation: the country was opening to the West after centuries of isolation.
Available sources describe a broadly educated man with an interest in history, medicine, psychology and the spiritual traditions of his country. He is said to have worked in various occupations before dedicating himself to what occupied his final years.
What stands on firmer ground is his memorial stone, erected in 1927 at Saihō-ji temple in Tokyo by his students. It summarises his method and his life.
Worth saying up front: much of the Usui biography circulating in the West comes from oral transmission, not from verifiable archives. Telling it as documented history would be dishonest.
Mount Kurama: what tradition tells
Tradition says that Usui, seeking an answer to the question that occupied him — how to heal without exhausting himself in the attempt — withdrew to Mount Kurama, near Kyoto, for twenty-one days of fasting and meditation.
At the end of that retreat, the account goes, he had an experience of opening in which he received both the understanding and the capacity to channel this energy. And something equally important: the understanding that it was not his, and that it could be passed to others.
I tell it as what it is: a founding story. It has the value founding stories have, which is not small — and not the value of a notarised record.
The Gakkai and the Tokyo clinic
In 1922 Usui founded the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai in Tokyo, the association for practising and transmitting his method, and opened a treatment space in the Harajuku district.
In 1923 the Great Kantō earthquake devastated Tokyo and Yokohama. Tradition holds that Usui and his students attended a great many people in those days, and that this made the method known.
Usui died in 1926. The Gakkai continued in Japan with a discreet profile and remained, for decades, almost unknown in the West.
Chūjirō Hayashi: order and hand positions
Among Usui's students, Chūjirō Hayashi (1880–1940), a physician in the Japanese navy, stands out.
Hayashi opened his own clinic and contributed something decisive: he systematised the hand positions and kept treatment records. Where Usui worked more intuitively, Hayashi ordered, wrote and formalised.
That turn explains much of what we now call "Western Reiki": the fixed sequence of positions taught at first level comes down this branch.
Hawayo Takata and the journey west
Hawayo Takata (1900–1980), born in Hawai'i to a Japanese family, travelled to Japan for health reasons in the early 1930s and reached Hayashi's clinic. She received treatment there and, later, training.
Takata returned to Hawai'i and practised and taught for decades. Before her death in 1980 she had initiated a group of masters who in turn spread Reiki across the United States, Europe and Latin America.
Without her, Reiki would most likely have remained a Japanese practice little known outside its own country.
It is also true — and rarely mentioned — that Takata adapted the story and presentation of the method to the Western context of her time. Some versions of Usui's history in circulation today come from those adaptations.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1865 | Mikao Usui is born in Japan |
| 1922 | He founds the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai in Tokyo |
| 1923 | Great Kantō earthquake; the method spreads |
| 1926 | Mikao Usui dies |
| 1927 | His students erect the memorial stone at Saihō-ji temple |
| 1930s | Hawayo Takata trains with Chūjirō Hayashi |
| 1940 | Chūjirō Hayashi dies |
| 1980 | Hawayo Takata dies, having initiated a group of masters |
| 1980 onward | Worldwide expansion and the rise of many schools |
What we know and what we don't
You will not find this section on most Reiki websites, and to me it is the most important one.
Reasonably supported: Usui's historical existence, the founding of the Gakkai in 1922, the 1927 memorial stone, the figure of Hayashi, Takata's role in bringing Reiki west.
Oral tradition, not documentation: the details of the Kurama retreat, dialogues attributed to Usui, the numbers of people treated, much of his earlier biography.
Later additions: some elements now presented as "original" — certain chakra associations, certain protocols, certain price hierarchies — appeared once Reiki was already in the West.
Separating these three layers does not weaken the practice. It honours it. A tradition that needs to lie about its origins does not trust its own worth.
After Takata: why there are so many schools
Once the central figure was gone, Reiki branched.
On one side, the Western line descending from Takata, named Usui Shiki Ryōhō, with numerous later variants. On the other, the Western rediscovery of Japanese schools from the 1990s: Jikiden Reiki, Gendai Reiki Hō, Kōmyō Reiki and others.
And then dozens of systems adding symbols, angels, crystals or proprietary names. Some serious, some not.
I compare the two large families in Japanese vs Western Reiki.
Reiki in Colombia and in Medellín
Reiki reached Latin America along several routes over the second half of the twentieth century, and not through a single school or a single teacher. For Colombia there is no one documented date of arrival, and I would rather say so than give you a date I cannot support.
What I can tell you first-hand is the present. In Medellín today, serious centres and carefully trained teachers coexist with weekend offerings that hand out a master's certificate in two days. The Aburrá Valley has filled with wellness spaces in El Poblado, Laureles, Envigado and Sabaneta, and not all of them hold what they promise.
I work from the lineage of Mikao Usui and integrate the accompaniment of the ascended masters, the archangels and the seven rays. I say it plainly, because I believe anyone who is going to lay hands on you should tell you where what they do comes from.
If you are looking to train or to receive sessions, the article that will serve you most is what lineage is and how to verify a master.
Why this history matters to you
You might think origins are a matter for scholars. They are not.
The history explains why there are three levels and not five. Why some teachers work with fixed positions and others scan with the hands. Why the price of a course varies so much. And why someone can sell you a mastership in a weekend: because no central authority exists to stop them.
It also explains the five precepts, the oldest and most alive part of the system. They are in the five Reiki principles.
And if you are starting from zero, begin with the complete guide to what Reiki is.
Frequently asked questions
Was Mikao Usui a doctor? There is no evidence that he practised medicine. His student Chūjirō Hayashi was a physician in the Japanese navy, and the two are often confused. Sources describe Usui as a broadly educated man with spiritual and therapeutic interests, but presenting him as a medical professional would be inaccurate.
Is Reiki a Japanese religion? No. It was born in Japan, in a Buddhist and Shinto cultural context, and its vocabulary reflects that setting. But it has no dogma, no worship, and requires no adherence to any faith. People of every belief, and people of none, practise and receive it without conflict. I work from a Christian-mystical view and never impose it on anyone.
What is the Usui Reiki Ryōhō Gakkai, and does it still exist? It is the association Usui founded in Tokyo in 1922 to transmit his method. It has continued discreetly in Japan with very little international public presence. It is not a body that certifies or regulates the Reiki practised in the West, and no teacher can claim its endorsement without being able to prove it.
Why are there different versions of Usui's story? Because the account travelled mainly by word of mouth and was adapted as it moved from Japan to Hawai'i and on to the rest of the world. Each link added its own emphasis. That is why I prefer to state clearly which part is reasonably documented and which part is tradition. Both have value, but not the same kind of value.
Does lineage matter, or is it just marketing? It matters, though not the way it is usually sold. A lineage does not guarantee that someone is a good practitioner, just as a surname does not guarantee talent. What it does show is that there was a traceable in-person transmission and a responsible teacher behind it. Being told this plainly, with names and dates, is a good sign.
If this path interests you and you would like to talk it through, write to me on WhatsApp at +57 314 811 7561. You can also read where I come from and how I work.
Om Mani Padme Hum ✦
Disclaimer
This article is for educational purposes and does not replace diagnosis, treatment or follow-up by a healthcare professional. Reiki is a complementary practice: it accompanies, it does not substitute. If you are under medical or psychological care, continue it and talk to your treating professional before adding any complementary therapy.
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Sananda Reiki
Spiritual support and Reiki therapies in Medellín and online.
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