Tradition and research
The history of Reiki includes both an enduring oral tradition and a growing body of historical research. Some accounts trace its roots to ancient Tibetan practices and describe a rediscovery in Japan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through Mikao Usui.
For many years, Reiki was passed from teacher to student by word of mouth. Stories naturally changed as they traveled, often emphasizing the wonder and beauty of Usui’s search. The account below is a traditional Western Reiki story associated with Hawayo Takata’s lineage. It is included as an important part of Reiki’s teaching heritage, while later research offers a more historically grounded picture of Mikao Usui and his work.
A traditional story of Usui
In the traditional story, Usui is described as a Christian minister in Kyoto who was asked by seminary students how Jesus performed acts of healing. Unable to answer from his own experience, he began a lifelong search into spiritual teachings and ancient healing traditions.
The story says that Usui traveled to the United States, studied scripture, and later returned to Japan. There, he explored Buddhist teachings and asked whether the physical body could be helped through spiritual practice. He eventually entered a Zen monastery to study the sutras, first in Japanese, then Chinese, and finally Sanskrit so he could read older Buddhist writings.
According to this account, Usui found symbols and teachings that seemed to describe a path of healing, yet he felt he still lacked a direct experience of the energy itself. After speaking with a monk, he was guided to make a twenty-one-day retreat on Mount Kurama, where he fasted and meditated.
On the final morning of the retreat, the story describes a brilliant light appearing in the east and a profound spiritual experience in which colored lights and Sanskrit symbols were revealed to him. Usui understood this as an initiation into the Universal Life Force and a call to preserve what he had learned.
The traditional account continues with a series of encounters on Usui’s journey down the mountain. It describes him responding to his injured toe, meeting a young woman with tooth pain, and sharing the practice with travelers. These episodes are often told as symbols of discovery, compassion and the responsibility that accompanies spiritual work.
The story then places Usui in a Tokyo community known as the beggar kingdom, where he spent years helping people. One encounter with a former recipient led him to reflect on personal responsibility and the value of exchange. In the story, this reflection leads to the Five Reiki Principles, which became central to how he shared the practice.
Usui is then said to have traveled through Japan with a lit torch, inviting people to learn about Reiki. The story describes his meeting with Chujiro Hayashi, a naval officer who became an important figure in the next chapter of Reiki’s transmission. Hayashi later trained Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to a wider audience in Hawaii, the United States and Canada.
A more historically grounded account
Later research has clarified parts of this story while leaving other details uncertain. Mikao Usui was born on August 15, 1865, in the village of Taniai in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Information from his memorial stone at Saihoji Temple records that he developed a system of natural healing and spiritual practice, commonly known today as Usui Reiki Ryōhō.
The memorial stone describes a twenty-one-day retreat on Mount Kurama during which Usui experienced the Reiki energy. It also records that he opened a clinic in Harajuku, Tokyo, in April 1921, where he offered sessions and workshops. After the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, accounts connected with the memorial stone say that he brought Reiki to those affected in Tokyo.
As interest in his work grew, Usui opened another clinic in 1924 and traveled to teach throughout Japan. He died on March 9, 1926, in Fukuyama after suffering a stroke. The memorial stone states that he taught more than 2,000 people and trained a number of teachers in the years before his death.
Chujiro Hayashi, one of Usui’s teachers, went on to develop a Reiki practice in Tokyo. Hawayo Takata studied with Hayashi and became a key figure in carrying Reiki to Hawaii and North America. Her teaching story remains deeply important to many Western Reiki lineages, even where later research has revised elements of its historical detail.
Taken together, these accounts show why Reiki history is best approached with both reverence and curiosity. The traditional story preserves a meaningful teaching lineage, while historical research helps practitioners better understand the people, places and period in which Usui’s system emerged.