Part I
This book is the first to focus on the women who practised in the early days of Reiki. Some are well known while others are yet to be discovered. Follow the stories of Chiyoko Yamaguchi, Hawayo Takata, Chie Hayashi, Kimiko Koyama and other women who used Reiki in their everyday lives and passed it down through the generations.
Learn about the lives they led, the society they were part of and the efforts they made to ensure Reiki survived.
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What were their life circumstances?
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What challenges did they have to overcome?
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And what can we learn from them today?
"Misu, Katsue’s grandmother, supported her grandchildren in giving Reiki. She would sometimes bring people to the house who she thought needed treatments and make tea for them while Katsue, and later Chiyoko, gave them Reiki. It wasn’t long before many local people who recognised how valuable Reiki was were asking to learn Reiki for themselves."
from the chapter on Katsue Komatsu
"For Chie, life was tough after her husband's death. To begin with she had to lie low to avoid suspicion from the authorities."
from the chapter on Chie Hayashi
"This remarkable book is a joy to read and hold. It’s beautifully designed and beautifully written, telling the story of the many women who learned Reiki from the earliest days in Japan & passed their knowledge on to others." Eliantolla
"Reiki means to receive the light of love. If you cannot feel the divine in the middle of your heart (kokoro), you’ll be lost and won’t find your way. No matter how much times might change, love remains." (found in the teaching handbook of Kimiko Koyama, 6th President of Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai)
from the chapter on Kimiko Koyama
"Before Pearl Harbor, Hawayo had promoted Reiki officially
in the newspapers, with its Japanese name. She had used the Gokai scroll with the Five Principles while teaching and introduced her students to Gassho meditation. After the attack, she didn’t use these openly Japanese references any more."
from the chapter on Hawayo Takata
"It's such a great looking and well organized book! I see lots of detailed oriented care from the beginning to the end." E.L.
Review of "Women in Reiki" by Melina Tobisch,
published in the German Reiki magazine, edition 02/22
"The portraits of the early women in Reiki and their stories are very exciting and I don't want to stop reading because the individual chapters contain extensive information not only about the women themselves, but there are also information boxes in the book which provide important background about the spirit of the times, emperorship, politics, state religion, the Second World War, or on various regions, on the way of thinking and the culture of the Meiji and Taisho eras and much more.
I find myself often busy turning back the pages to recall the events described before, so that
I can understand better the next part of the women's story. I am thrilled by the wealth of well-researched information and enjoy reading this first part very much. This section requires focus, because the bundled knowledge alternates again and again with the classic
reports on the respective person.
One always finds new photos, letters and other documents, some with translation and commentary. The jumps between the different topics and the stylistic differences
between the various blocks encourage the reader to give the book her undivided attention."