Reiki Myth, "Was Hayashi-sensei a medical doctor?"

It has been so long since I had written in this blog!  
2013 became a busy year for me, and I had to drop some of my tasks. Writing a blog was one of the task that I had to leave for a while.

Certainly, clicking "like" and "share", and write a short comment of the day on the Facebook is easy for me to continue ! 


However, I would like to bring myself back to write more about Reiki, my true passion.


I continue to read and learn about the history of Reiki but I sometime see articles that written by people who don't have any access to research Japanese history, and often
the information is misleading.



As I live in Canada, I still don't have full access to the Japanese library,
material and historian, but I still do my best to go on researching whatever
I want to know about Reiki.


Recently, I was asked by one of the Jikiden Reiki friend and her question was
"I saw a comment and it says Hayashi was not a medical doctor.What is your thought?" 

I was taught that Hayashi-sensei was a medical doctor, so I had no doubt. Thus,
I have never look into the evidence. 
I also know that my teacher, Tadao Yamaguchi, will not write nor teach any information 
that doesn't have support material (evidence), so I knew Yamaguchi-sensei will 
have an answer, so I talked to him on the phone.


Here is the answer from Tadao Yamaguchi. 

Hayashi-sensei joined Naval School in 1899 (he was 20 years old), 
and graduated in 1902. 

Back then in Naval school, there were many different departments (or faculties) 
includes Soldiers Department (infantry, artillery, cavalry, etc), and Sanitation Department (army/naval surgeon, pharmacist, dentist, hygienist etc ) to name a few.


After the graduation, Hayashi-sensei experienced the Russo-Japanese War as 
a Naval Officer, also was on a Naval duty as a Chief of Navel Operations for Ominato Port Guard District on 1918. By the time he learned Reiki from Mikao Usui in 1925, he was retired from the Navy, and was starting to operate a Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai at Shinano-machi, Tokyo as a medical doctor and offered Reiki treatments instead of medicine. 


Yamaguchi-sensei believes that Hayashi-sensei obtained the training as a naval surgeon during the time he was attending the Navel School from 1899 to 1902, however, despite the on going research, no one has found the evidence that Hayashi-sensei graduated from Naval Medical School. Thus, if oral tradition is a good enough evidence for the world, I still believe that Hayashi-sensei was a Gun-i (Naval surgeon) as I know Yamaguchi's family all know he was a Gun-i. But if the world needs a written evidence to prove if Hayashi-sensei was a Gun-i, so far, we haven't been able to find an evidence.  However, there is a written official material that shows Hayahi-sensei was a medical doctor.

Here are few reasons that we can say Hayashi-sensei was a medical doctor.

1. Tadao Yamaguchi has a copy of the tax payer list that he found at the Tokyo Imperial Library. This official paper shows that the income tax return was filed by Hayashi Chujiro as a medical doctor, and the address in the file was for Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai, Shinano-Machi, Tokyo. (This fact was shared by Yamaguchi-sensei)

2.Hayashi-sensei was using a humans anatomy chart that was used by medical professionals during the Reiki classes. (This opinion was shared by Mr. Masaki Nishina, well known Reiki Master, and also Jikiden Reiki Dai Shihan)

3.Hayashi-sensei used a scalpel surgical knife when he took his life. This type of knife is only available for medical surgeons. (This opinion is my own perspective.)


There is another fact about the Medical training in Japan. 


In Meiji era (1868~1912), there were many evolutions and upheavals in medical industry in Japan and the types of medical school and trainings during this period were varied and not standardized. Between 1906 and 1916, people who had a medical training in a past were able to obtain the medical license by taking National Examination for the License of Medical Doctor. Once people passed the exam, they were entitled to open a practice as a medical doctor. That means, until Meiji era, people were not necessary went to a University and trained for 6 years to be able to become a medical doctor.

This is my guess that Hayashi-sensei was able to take this examination based on his training at the Naval School and as a high rank officier in the Navy. He passed the examination and obtained the title as a medical doctor. Thus, he was operating the Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai and offering Reiki treatments and paying income tax as a medical doctor. 


I also found a section in a book and the author talks about Hayashi Sensei.

"日本と霊気、そしてレイキ” (Nihon to Reiki, soshite Reiki - Japan and Reiki (in kanji), and Reiki (in katakana) ) by Masaki Nishina.
Mr.Masaki Nishina is a well known Reiki Master in Japan, and he is also a Dai Shihan (Grand Teacher) of Jikiden Reiki. He has published 3 books related to Reiki, and he continues to spend an eternal effort for researching about the history of Reiki. 
What I like about his book is that he doesn't write anything without support materials. 
If he writes about something that he is not sure, he clearly mentions that this is just his guess, and he doesn't pretend he knows everything.

Here is a small excerpt from his book, 
"There are many people who is doubting that Hayashi sensei wasn't a Naval Doctor, because no one has found evidence. To tell what I know, there is a person who went on researching about this matter and he visited a Japanese parliament library and checked the list of tax payers. This official record shows that Hayashi-sensei was paying income tax as a medical doctor and the address was the Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai in Shinano-machi, Tokyo. "  

In my opinion, there is no way that Japanese public office would allow a person to file an income tax as a medical doctor while he wasn't officially a medical doctor. 

I am convinced that Hayashi-sensei WAS a medical doctor. 


What is your thought ?