Reiki History - Mrs. Hawayo Takata

Mrs. Hawayo Takata was born on December 24, 1900, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents were Japanese immigrants, having citizenship of United States. She got married with Saichi Takata but became a widow at the age of 34 with two small children. At this time she was suffering from a number of severe illnesses, which were diagnosed as tumor, gallstone, appendicitis and asthma. She was told to prepare for operation but it is said that a voice told her to go to Japan and seek healing there. She asked her doctor about other methods of treatment and he advised her to go to Dr. Hayashi’s Reiki Clinic. Thus she went to Dr. Hayashi’s clinic in 1935 and began receiving treatments. Two Reiki practitioners would treat her every day. The heat from their hands was so strong that she thought they were secretly using some kind of equipment. She thought so because she was not familiar with Reiki. Seeing the large sleeves of the Japanese kimono worn by one, she thought she had found the secret place of concealment. Grabbing his sleeves one day she startled the practitioner, but of course, found nothing. When she explained what she was doing, he began to laugh and then told her about Reiki and how it worked.

Mrs. Takata improved progressively and in four months, she won back her health completely. Now she wanted to learn Reiki for herself. In the spring of 1936, she received First Degree Reiki from Dr. Hayashi. She then worked with him for a year and received Second Degree Reiki. She returned to Hawaii in 1937, followed shortly thereafter by Dr. Hayashi who went to help establish Reiki there. In February 1938, Dr. Hayashi initiated Hawayo Takata as a Reiki Master. He officially announced and acknowledged this in Hawaii on February 21, 1938 and also stated that she was one of the thirteen Reiki Masters trained by him.

Mrs. Hawayo Takata practiced Reiki in Hawaii, establishing several clinics, one of which was located in Hilo on the big Island. She gave treatments and initiated students up to Reiki II. She became a well-known healer and traveled to the U.S. mainland and other parts of the world teaching Reiki and giving attunements. She was a powerful healer, and attributed her success to the fact she did so much Reiki on each client. It is said that at the age of 80 years she never looked more than 60 years. She would often do multiple treatments, each sometime lasting hours, and she often initiated members of the client’s family so they could give Reiki to the client as well.

Mrs. Takata began initiating Reiki Masters in 1970 and trained 22 Reiki Masters in her life time. On December 11, 1980, Hawayo Takata passed away. The twenty-two Masters in turn taught Reiki to others, and thus Reiki, the wonderful healing system finally reached us.

The credit of spreading Reiki to the world goes to Reiki Grand Master/Teacher Hawayo Takata. Had she not done it, today none of us would have had Reiki. She must be honored and respected.