KOMYO REIKIDO - TRADITIONAL JAPANESE REIKI

JIKIDEN REIKI

DIRECT TEACHINGS | Specialising in Traditional Japanese Reiki Spiritual & Healing Practices

WHAT IS JIKIDEN REIKI?

Jikiden Reiki is a Japanese system of Reiki founded by Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her son Tadao.

The term "Jikiden" means "directly taught," as it teaches the practices, unaltered, from what Hayashi taught (the last Shihan student of Reiki founder Mikao Usui), thereby preserving the original techniques, practices and philosophies of Reiki.

In 1938, and at the age of 17, Chiyoko studied Reiki with Chujiro Hayashi and, together with her Uncle, assisted Hayashi by offering Reiju in his classes. Together with her son, she established Jikiden Reiki, preserving the unchanged practices taught to her by Hayashi Sensei.

Unlike many Western adaptations, Jikiden Reiki focuses on maintaining the purity of Reiki through it's unaltered simplicity

With the establishment of the Jikiden Reiki Kenkyukai (Institute), this approach has reached practitioners around the world, allowing those in the West, to learn and practice Reiki in its original Japanese form.

CHIYOKO YAMAGUCHI

Early Life and First Exposures to Reiki

Born in Kyoto, Japan, on December 18, 1921, at age seven, Chiyoko Yamaguchi moved into a suburb of Osaka to live with her uncle, Wasaburo Sugano. At that time, it was not uncommon for children of larger families to live with relatives who might be able to provide better care and attention to the child. In this case, her Uncle had no children of his own as a result of the tragic loss of his children to tuberculosis. It was this loss, which also motivated his interest in health and well-being.

Sugano studied Reiki under Chukiro Hayashi (last Shihan student of Reiki founder Mikao Usui), in 1928. Impressed by Reiki's healing power, Sugano introduced the art to several family members.

His wife later followed Sugano's enthusiasm in Reiki as a result of receiving regular Reiki when she suffered with tuberculosis. Upon her recovery, Sugano and Chiyo opened a branch of Hayashi's Reiki Kenkyukai in Daishoji and invited Hayashi Sensei himself to teach there in 1935.

Chiyoko's Reiki Training with Chujiro Hayashi

Seventeen-year-old Chiyoko was encouraged by her uncle Sugano to follow in the footsteps of Reiki training. Having to patiently wait until her Uncle procured the fee for her training, after a seemingly long wait, in March 1938 that she finally and eagerly attended a seminar given by Hayashi Sensei. Finding herself to be a natural with this practice, she rapidly progressed to Shihan-kaku (or assistant teacher) in 1939 and became a Shihan (full teacher) in 1940 under the tutelage of Chie Hayashi. In 1942, Chiyoko achieved status as a Dai-Shihan, or senior teacher.

A Lifetime Commitment to Reiki

Although Chiyoko never worked in or established a clinic of her own, her life of Reiki practice continued unabated through marriage, wartime, and raising her family, and she regularly used Reiki within her household, friends, and neighbours.

During the war, Chiyoko was separated from her husband, taken prisoner of war and detained. However, she used Reiki's distant healing as a way to stay connected with him until his eventual return in 1948. He came back to her badly injured and another great testament of the power of Reiki became the relief provided to her husband as a result of his Reiki treatments.

She lived a quiet life for many decades, operating her stationery shop and teaching Reiki privately. Her dedication to the practice never wavered, and she continued providing treatments to those in need.

In 1996, when Reiki was spreading throughout the West and back through Japan, she became sought after by the wider Reiki community, attracting visitors from all around the world. She was very much surprised to see the changes the practice had undergone in the West, so she decided to share the original teachings she received from Hayashi Sensei. It was this desire to keep Reiki in its authentic form that gave birth to Jikiden Reiki, which, when translated, means "directly taught," a reflection of Chiyoko Sensei's commitment to passing on Hayashi's teachings unaltered.

THE FORMATION OF JIKIDEN REIKI KENKYUKAI

Before formally teaching, Chiyoko and Tadao collated and reviewed the family’s collective memories of Hayashi’s teachings, consulting with other relatives who had also trained with him. They gathered documents and photos from the family homestead which had hosted Hayashi Sensei’s seminars. In 1999, Chiyoko and Tadao then established the Jikiden Reiki Kenkyukai (Institute) with the goal to preserve and share the original teachings of Hayashi Sensei with students worldwide.

Tadao Yamaguchi-Frank-Arjava-Petter-Jiki

A LASTING LEGACY

In 2000, Frank Arjava Petter, a well-known author and Reiki Teacher of Western Reiki, began his Jikiden Reiki training with Chiyoko and Tadao. He also lived in Japan with his wife for an extended period, providing him with an intimate knowledge and appreciation for the unique, imbedded culture and tradition of the country, which helps to inform his understanding of Reiki as a practice and the cultural and spiritual underpinnings which very few Westerners are able to develop.

Thanks to his previously established place within the Reiki community, his writings effectively brought Jikiden Reiki into the public domain for an international audience. He also took a leading role, together with Tadao, in taking Jikiden Reiki out of Japan onto the international stage, and across the East-West divide.

Since Chiyoko's death in 2003, Tadao Yamaguchi continues his work supported by Arjava, who has been appointed as the vice-Principal of Jikiden Reiki. Today Jikiden Reiki is well represented and still spreading in the whole world, teaching Shinshin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho just like Hayashi Sensei taught it.

Through the dedication of Chiyoko, Tadao, and Arjava, the teachings today are in full flower, continuing to share the practice in its full authenticity and integrity.