Editorial intro from the latest issue of NAJOM
NAJOM Editorial March 2017
The Tools of Our Trade: Diversity and Divinity
Akizo Okada Sensei, president of Japan’s Meridian Therapy Association, closed the 7th Japan In-Touch Seminar last November with these words: “In Japan, we have the idea that everything is divine – so, gods are in everything. The Japanese don’t say ‘oh my God,’ they say, ‘oh my gods.’ It is a mental attitude of diversity.” Just as these words held true for our experience of teachers and styles throughout the weeklong seminar, they reflect this issue of NAJOM in which our writers celebrate the many tools of our trade beyond the common filiform needle.
The emphasis by far is on our ancient treasures, the Nine Needles. Eminent teachers Ishihara Katsumi and Fukushima Tetsuya have generously provided us with an encyclopedic introduction to virtually all of them and have included with them our classical Japanese favorites. This is the first time material of this nature from Japan has been made available to a western readership.
Other contributors to this issue – teachers, researchers, clinicians, and clinicians who have become toolmakers – speak not only to the diversity of our tools but also to our sense – as practitioners who use them to heal people – of their divinity. We honour the lineages that bring them to us; we hold them carefully in our hands; they are conduits for the qi that connects us all. As Takahashi Hideo writes, “It is as if the spirit of the ancient technician contained in the tool is speaking to us.”
Takahashi and Oura Jikan respectively share their explorations of a tool that has faded into near obscurity – the dashin. In doing so, they shed light on a forgotten but very important chapter in the history of traditional Japanese medicine: prior to the mainstream adoption of the filiform needle, the dashin technique prevailed throughout Japan. Furthermore, the dashin – paired with a mallet – is quite possibly the precursor to our modern needle and guide tube, in both form and function.
The evolution of the dashin – and every other tool celebrated in this issue – reflects the age-old search for increasingly subtle (powerful yet painless) methods of stimulation. What seems to be brewing in response to the particular sensitivities and disorders of our modern times is a revival of ancient non-insertion and contact tools.
Bob Quinn, in his choice of the teishin, speaks for many of our writers: “Perhaps the general public would identify actual acupuncture needles as the main tool in our profession, but that is no longer the case for me.”
Beyond the divine needles, Oran Kivity and Honda Susumu share their innovations with ontake moxibustion (warm bamboo) and we crack open the door to the realm of electromagnetic tools with Tetsuro Saito’s semiconductor diodes used for the treatment of pain.
Since our last issue Junji Mizutani and Merlin Young have been very busy in Japan, spreading word of moxibustion as a tool in the battle against drug-resistant disease. Their work in Tokyo overlapped with the Japan 7 In Touch Seminar, providing a brief and happy convergence of NAJOM contributors and editors, many of whom had only ever met via email. More to come!
Our theme next issue (deadline May 10) is “The Body Holographic.” We explore theories behind and therapeutic use of microsystems (eg. auricular, scalp, hand acupuncture, and reflexology) widely used among practitioners of traditional Japanese-style medicine. This discussion can also include meridian systems, the muscloskeletal system, bones, organs, the skin, or even special effect and pressure pain points (tender points and indurations).
Next fall (deadline: September 10), we look at “Palpation of the Vital Areas,” which can include pulses, back shu points, the abdomen, neck and calf and corresponding treatments.
Cheryl Coull, editor
The Tools of Our Trade: Diversity and Divinity
Akizo Okada Sensei, president of Japan’s Meridian Therapy Association, closed the 7th Japan In-Touch Seminar last November with these words: “In Japan, we have the idea that everything is divine – so, gods are in everything. The Japanese don’t say ‘oh my God,’ they say, ‘oh my gods.’ It is a mental attitude of diversity.” Just as these words held true for our experience of teachers and styles throughout the weeklong seminar, they reflect this issue of NAJOM in which our writers celebrate the many tools of our trade beyond the common filiform needle.
The emphasis by far is on our ancient treasures, the Nine Needles. Eminent teachers Ishihara Katsumi and Fukushima Tetsuya have generously provided us with an encyclopedic introduction to virtually all of them and have included with them our classical Japanese favorites. This is the first time material of this nature from Japan has been made available to a western readership.
Other contributors to this issue – teachers, researchers, clinicians, and clinicians who have become toolmakers – speak not only to the diversity of our tools but also to our sense – as practitioners who use them to heal people – of their divinity. We honour the lineages that bring them to us; we hold them carefully in our hands; they are conduits for the qi that connects us all. As Takahashi Hideo writes, “It is as if the spirit of the ancient technician contained in the tool is speaking to us.”
Takahashi and Oura Jikan respectively share their explorations of a tool that has faded into near obscurity – the dashin. In doing so, they shed light on a forgotten but very important chapter in the history of traditional Japanese medicine: prior to the mainstream adoption of the filiform needle, the dashin technique prevailed throughout Japan. Furthermore, the dashin – paired with a mallet – is quite possibly the precursor to our modern needle and guide tube, in both form and function.
The evolution of the dashin – and every other tool celebrated in this issue – reflects the age-old search for increasingly subtle (powerful yet painless) methods of stimulation. What seems to be brewing in response to the particular sensitivities and disorders of our modern times is a revival of ancient non-insertion and contact tools.
Bob Quinn, in his choice of the teishin, speaks for many of our writers: “Perhaps the general public would identify actual acupuncture needles as the main tool in our profession, but that is no longer the case for me.”
Beyond the divine needles, Oran Kivity and Honda Susumu share their innovations with ontake moxibustion (warm bamboo) and we crack open the door to the realm of electromagnetic tools with Tetsuro Saito’s semiconductor diodes used for the treatment of pain.
Since our last issue Junji Mizutani and Merlin Young have been very busy in Japan, spreading word of moxibustion as a tool in the battle against drug-resistant disease. Their work in Tokyo overlapped with the Japan 7 In Touch Seminar, providing a brief and happy convergence of NAJOM contributors and editors, many of whom had only ever met via email. More to come!
Our theme next issue (deadline May 10) is “The Body Holographic.” We explore theories behind and therapeutic use of microsystems (eg. auricular, scalp, hand acupuncture, and reflexology) widely used among practitioners of traditional Japanese-style medicine. This discussion can also include meridian systems, the muscloskeletal system, bones, organs, the skin, or even special effect and pressure pain points (tender points and indurations).
Next fall (deadline: September 10), we look at “Palpation of the Vital Areas,” which can include pulses, back shu points, the abdomen, neck and calf and corresponding treatments.
Cheryl Coull, editor
Other Sample Articles from the pages of NAJOM
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Perspective on Ho-sha and kyo-jitsu:
Historical and modern clinical reflections by Stephen Birch |
Questions to Senior Acupuncturists
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The Characteristics and Essence of Japanese Acupuncture
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Acupuncture & Moxibustion Treatment for Depression
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The Potential of Head as a Treatment zone
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Bamboo Tube Moxibustion
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