NAJOM Editorial November 2019
Defining the Indefinable
In this and future issues, we will attempt to define what Junji Mizutani suggests is indefinable. What is Japanese acupuncture & moxibustion?
In the wake of NAJOM’s 25th anniversary and looking ahead to our next 25 years, it seemed appropriate that we pause to consider what we members
of the NAJOM community collectively do. Our proposal – to create a catalogue or “encyclopedia” of the methods and approaches taught and
practiced by NAJOM members, publish it in the journal, and eventually post it online – has met with an enthusiastic response.
From Peter Eckman’s profile of Constitutional Conditional Acupuncture to Pamela Ferguson’s Zen Shiatsu, we begin here with 16 alphabetically
arranged prototypes. Each of these “thumbnail sketches” represents the life’s work of one or several teachers, and is the focus of study and
practice for countless others. There is no hierarchy of importance, no attempt to categorize. This is only the beginning, and the hope is that
as the collection of profiles grows – with no promise of a finite end – a picture will come more clearly into focus, and we will be able to say,
“This is Japanese acupuncture & moxibustion.”
Mizutani Sensei is clearly supportive of the effort, contributing his own entry, “Mizutani-Style Bamboo-Tube Moxibustion.” But, he prefaces our launch with a commentary on the challenges of trying to name that which cannot be named, and a clarification of terms we tend to use loosely and perhaps incorrectly, such as traditional, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), and TJM (Traditional Japanese Medicine).
In trying to encapsulate what we do, the first line of NAJOM’s mission statement is helpful. “The North American Journal of Oriental Medicine
(NAJOM) is a non-profit worldwide forum for the promotion and development of Japanese approaches to Oriental medicine.” In other words, we are practitioners of approaches to medicine that originated in the Orient (ie China), that have been influenced by Japan’s particular history, culture and landscape, and that have continued to develop either in or outside of Japan.
It is this emphasis on the history, and the process of the development of our medicine, that Mizutani Sensei sees as the key to defining what we are calling Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion. History binds us practitioners – and our evolving diversity of practices – together, regardless of where in the world we are, or when.
This is why our series on approaches and styles (“what we do”) has been paired with a series chronicling the history of medicine in Japan (“where we come from”). Medical researcher Ikai Yoshio puts us immediately in the picture, detailing an intense and pivotal period of cross-cultural exchange that stretched from the latter part of the Yayoi Period to the end of the Nara Period, or roughly 300AD to 784AD. Seino Mitsunori and Tsurusaki Takamasa likewise draw us in to their history of the “Origins of the Name Kampo,” explaining the evolution of terminology we use today. And Oura Jikan delights us with the story of a blind man named Sugiyama, who changed the course of acupuncture forever with his invention of the simple tool most of us now rely on in our daily practices.
So, what is Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion? You may be surprised by what you take away from this first two-pronged focus on history and approaches. Perhaps, it will inspire you to dig into your pile of back issues, since this is essentially what NAJOM has been doing since 1994.
Email us soon if you wish to join in this conversation, either to submit an encyclopedic entry describing your approach, or to contribute to a broader discussion about who we are and what we do.
We are also accepting articles for our Spring 2020 issue focusing on the treatment of diabetes (metabolic syndrome). Our deadline for this issue has been extended to January 10, but please be in touch with us soon with proposals for this or any other topic.
Best wishes,
Cheryl Coull, editor
Defining the Indefinable
In this and future issues, we will attempt to define what Junji Mizutani suggests is indefinable. What is Japanese acupuncture & moxibustion?
In the wake of NAJOM’s 25th anniversary and looking ahead to our next 25 years, it seemed appropriate that we pause to consider what we members
of the NAJOM community collectively do. Our proposal – to create a catalogue or “encyclopedia” of the methods and approaches taught and
practiced by NAJOM members, publish it in the journal, and eventually post it online – has met with an enthusiastic response.
From Peter Eckman’s profile of Constitutional Conditional Acupuncture to Pamela Ferguson’s Zen Shiatsu, we begin here with 16 alphabetically
arranged prototypes. Each of these “thumbnail sketches” represents the life’s work of one or several teachers, and is the focus of study and
practice for countless others. There is no hierarchy of importance, no attempt to categorize. This is only the beginning, and the hope is that
as the collection of profiles grows – with no promise of a finite end – a picture will come more clearly into focus, and we will be able to say,
“This is Japanese acupuncture & moxibustion.”
Mizutani Sensei is clearly supportive of the effort, contributing his own entry, “Mizutani-Style Bamboo-Tube Moxibustion.” But, he prefaces our launch with a commentary on the challenges of trying to name that which cannot be named, and a clarification of terms we tend to use loosely and perhaps incorrectly, such as traditional, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), and TJM (Traditional Japanese Medicine).
In trying to encapsulate what we do, the first line of NAJOM’s mission statement is helpful. “The North American Journal of Oriental Medicine
(NAJOM) is a non-profit worldwide forum for the promotion and development of Japanese approaches to Oriental medicine.” In other words, we are practitioners of approaches to medicine that originated in the Orient (ie China), that have been influenced by Japan’s particular history, culture and landscape, and that have continued to develop either in or outside of Japan.
It is this emphasis on the history, and the process of the development of our medicine, that Mizutani Sensei sees as the key to defining what we are calling Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion. History binds us practitioners – and our evolving diversity of practices – together, regardless of where in the world we are, or when.
This is why our series on approaches and styles (“what we do”) has been paired with a series chronicling the history of medicine in Japan (“where we come from”). Medical researcher Ikai Yoshio puts us immediately in the picture, detailing an intense and pivotal period of cross-cultural exchange that stretched from the latter part of the Yayoi Period to the end of the Nara Period, or roughly 300AD to 784AD. Seino Mitsunori and Tsurusaki Takamasa likewise draw us in to their history of the “Origins of the Name Kampo,” explaining the evolution of terminology we use today. And Oura Jikan delights us with the story of a blind man named Sugiyama, who changed the course of acupuncture forever with his invention of the simple tool most of us now rely on in our daily practices.
So, what is Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion? You may be surprised by what you take away from this first two-pronged focus on history and approaches. Perhaps, it will inspire you to dig into your pile of back issues, since this is essentially what NAJOM has been doing since 1994.
Email us soon if you wish to join in this conversation, either to submit an encyclopedic entry describing your approach, or to contribute to a broader discussion about who we are and what we do.
We are also accepting articles for our Spring 2020 issue focusing on the treatment of diabetes (metabolic syndrome). Our deadline for this issue has been extended to January 10, but please be in touch with us soon with proposals for this or any other topic.
Best wishes,
Cheryl Coull, editor
Other Sample Articles from the pages of NAJOM
|
Perspective on Ho-sha and kyo-jitsu
by Stephen Birch |
Questions to Senior Acupuncturists
|
The Characteristics and Essence of Japanese Acupuncture
|
|
Acupuncture & Moxibustion for Depression
|
The Potential of Head as a Treatment zone
|
Bamboo Tube Moxibustion
|