The number one question I get when people find out I live in Japan is always for information about what Reiki is like here in Japan… I’ve touched on this before in a discussion on the differences between Eastern and Western Reiki, but allow me to address it in greater detail here.

Surprisingly, Reiki is not popular at all in Japan. In fact 9 out of 10 people have never even heard of it. Amazing odds from the country from where it all began. Reiki is much more popular in the West where a high percentage of people, if not familiar with Reiki in detail, have at least heard of it. Here in Japan this is not so. Further if you show them the Kanji (or traditional Japanese writing) for Reiki, they would interpret it as Ghost Energy (or something to that effect) and would immediately be turned off by it. This is why, when introducing Reiki to Japanese, I use the English writing system, or one of the other Japanese writing systems if I need to write it down. Let this be a warning to those Reiki practitioners visiting Japan with their cool “Official Reiki T-Shirts” with Japanese writing on them… you may just be scaring the holy bejesus out of anyone you run into.

Once you get past the initial shock at the Kanji, and assure them that Reiki is not Ghost Energy, so to speak, the Japanese are quite adept at picking it up. The 3rd and 4th Reiki Symbols which present a stumbling block for most non-Japanese are part of their everyday vocabulary and most of the original works on Reiki are quite readable (if not a bit archaic) and so they have no problem in understanding what original Reiki really is all about. They can, in fact, understand it at a depth that it takes most Westerners quite a bit of effort to attain. For example, the ki part of Reiki is part of their daily vocabulary, while in English there is not even a word for it. In India it is called Prana, in Hawaii it is called Mana and in China it is called Chi but there is no English equivalent for this spiritual life force energy.

There is also a split in Japan between Traditional Japanese Reiki and more Westernized Reiki (for example the Takata Lineage) although people here are much more tolerant of each other’s beliefs than they are in the West.

Another difference I’ve noticed is the willingness to wait until they have mastered Reiki (to some extent) before attempting to become a Reiki Master. In the West many more people want to jump to the head of the line, so to speak, by becomming Reiki Masters long before they are ready… which is a shame, because as is true with many things in life, the pleasure lies in the seeking… not the attaining and so those rushing things are only missing out on the exploration and discovery that is part of the wonder of Reiki.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!