Only fi ngers, thumbs and palms should be used in shiatsu (above); this ‘correct’ technique is taught in global seminars (left)


to stroke and press the painful parts of her body. But it was her third child, the seven-year-old Tokujiro, who eased her discomfort most effectively and, though ignorant of anatomy, began to recognise differences in her skin condition, heat and stiffness, as he applied pressure to different muscles using his hands and fingers.


Miracle massage “When my grandfather first massaged his mother, he told me he used a ratio of 80 per cent rubbing to 20 per cent pressing,” explains Namikoshi. “But he quickly found that reversing the percentage gave better


News of Tokujiro’s ‘miracle cure’ spread throughout the village and the young boy


continued to treat people with his hands into adulthood


results. He concentrated on the places that were the stiffest and coolest and soon his mother’s condition disappeared. Today we think that he had unknowingly been pressing on both sides of the central spinal column in a way that would have stimulated adrenal function and therefore the secretion of cortisone to alleviate her rheumatism.”


News of Tokujiro’s ‘miracle cure’


spread throughout the village and the young boy continued to treat people with his hands into adulthood, slowly developing his own therapeutic system of shiatsu – literally translated as ‘finger pressure’. Since the only


national certification available in Japan during the 1920s was for amma massage, originating from China, Namikoshi studied to obtain the certificate before setting up his own clinic in Hokkaido in 1925. Word-of-mouth recommendations meant there were no lack of clients seeking treatment to alleviate conditions such as stiff backs, shoulders and necks.


©CYBERTREK 2015 spabusiness.com issue 3 2015 89


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