I learned Shiatsu in highscool in Japan while studying my pre-req courses to get ready for pursuing my RN degree.

For those interested in Shiatsu in the west there are a variety of scources one can allmost allways find a good book on it in Barnes and Noble Book Stores.

Frome Wiki:

Shiatsu (指圧 Japanese from shi, meaning finger, and atsu, meaning pressure) is a traditional hands-on therapy originating in Japan. There are two main Shiatsu schools; one based on western anatomical and physiological theory and the other based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Shiatsu is regulated as a licensed medical therapy in Japan by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and elsewhere by various governing bodies set up by Shiatsu practitioners. Shiatsu is an evolving form, and its various styles incorporate (to differing degrees) aspects of Japanese massage traditions, Chinese Medicine practice, and "Western" anatomy and physiology.

Shiatsu, as well as Teate, pronounced te-ah-te (which literally stands for "medical treatment" in Japanese), originated in Japan. There were many hands-on therapies called Teate before traditional Chinese therapies such as Acupuncture and Tuina (called Anma in Japan) were introduced to Japan. The term shiatsu may have been first cited in a 1915 book, Tenpaku Tamai's Shiatsu Ryoho.

Tokujiro Namikoshi founded the Japan Shiatsu College in 1940 and systematised a form of shiatsu therapy based on Western anatomy and physiology. In Japan, Namikoshi's system enjoys special legal status, and its adherents often credit him with the development of shiatsu; the story is told that at age seven, Tokujiro Namikoshi developed a technique of pressing with his thumbs and palms as he tried to nurse his mother who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. Masanuga, a student of the school for ten years and teacher of psychology, opened his own school (Iokai Center of Shiatsu) and taught what has become known as the Zen style of Shiatsu based on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Namikoshi treated many high profile persons such as former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida and other successive prime ministers, the prosecutor for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Prosecutor Keenan, as well as celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali, though it was Masanuga's book, Zen Shiatsu, published in the 1970s that was instrumental in establishing the techniques outside Japan.

Other styles of shiatsu exist; adherents of the Namikoshi school generally contend that these are derived from the work of Namikoshi and refer to them as Derivative Shiatsu. It is to be noted, however, that Namikoshi's school was (and continues to be) devoted to reconciling the ancient massage arts of Japan with Western medicine in line with the efforts Japan made since the turn of the 20th century to 'westernise' certain elements of its culture, and it ignores traditional Chinese medicine and its systems of channels. Masanuga, on the other hand, was intent on reconciling the massage arts with traditional Chinese medicine, and went back to early texts (such as the Huang-Di Nei Jing - The Yellow Emperor's Essentials of Medicine, a compilation of Taoist theory and a text book of acupuncture) which influence most Shiatsu styles today.


Mention should also be made of Tansu, a shiatsu style using Indian Tantric practices, and of those who combine the principles of Feng Shui with the energy field studies of Semyon Kirlian, Robert Beck, John Zimmerman and others in their practice of Shiatsu.

Since 1980 the evolution and development of shiatsu has largely taken place in Europe and North America.

"Shiatsu technique refers to the use of fingers and palm of one's hand to apply pressure to particular sections on the surface of the body for the purpose of correcting the imbalances of the body, and for maintaining and promoting health. It is also a method contributing to the healing of specific illnesses."
—Japanese medical department of the Ministry of Welfare (current Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare) in December 1957.


The characteristic of shiatsu as defined by Namikoshi is to apply pressure using only the fingers, palms and especially the thumbs on points that have been related to the central and autonomic nervous systems. Masanuga, who identified reflections of the acupuncture channels in the arms and legs, considered that a shiatsu treatment should a) involve the whole body, b) require a focussed practitioner sensitive to the energy distributions of the body, and c) provide an extra dimension of connection and support (using both hands where one 'listens' and the other acts). In both styles, however, the essence of shiatsu is “Diagnosis and Therapy combined.”

“Diagnosis and Therapy combined” is the ability of the practitioner to use his sensory organs (palms, fingers, and thumbs) to detect disharmonies in the energetic components of the body, (such as stiffness or slackness at or within its surface), and to perform empirically established routines to correct these problems. To acquire this skill takes considerable experience. The defining difference between shiatsu therapy and modern and Kampo medicine (also known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), such as acupuncture and moxibustion) is this “Diagnosis and Therapy combined".

In Zen Shiatsu, the diagnosis proceeds through several stages. The practitioner first makes use of signs in the subject's superficial appearance and odor, in the sounds he or she makes and in the sensations felt by touch. The practitioner also examines the principal pulses in the wrists (there are others in the body) and the appearance of the tongue, and looks for psychological evidence of contributing factors in how the subject answers questions about his or her health and particular problem. The practitioner will also feel for energy imbalances related to the internal organs in and around the abdomen and view signs of these in the back. In TCM, illness comes from an invasion of external factors and/or from emotional disharmonies within. External factors may eventually penetrate to the interior of the body and cause serious illness, just as internal factors move to the exterior and cause problems at the surface of the body and in the subject's behaviour. Thus similar symptoms may have different causes. The diagnostic skill is to identify correctly the sources of disharmony and to try and eliminate them. In Zen Shiatsu, the diagnosis is crucial to the therapy's effectiveness.

In shiatsu therapy, however, practitioners can also promote the prevention and recovery of illnesses by stimulating the immune system and natural healing power that people already possess without treating a specific problem. Treating the body as a whole, so they say, helps to restore the physical functions of the nervous system, circulatory system, bone structure, muscles, and internal secretion and stimulates the whole of the mind and body to find harmony. Skilled shiatsu practitioners can contribute considerably to regional health and medical treatments. A europe-wide study (The Experience and Effects of Shiatsu, 2007,[1]) co-ordinated by Andrew Long, director of the Institute of Health Care, University of Leeds, UK and Seamus Connolly of the European Shiatsu Federation has clearly demonstrated the benefits of shiatsu treatments and argues for its inclusion in State health care.


In Japan, anyone who practices shiatsu therapy must be licensed with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Shiatsupractors are required to study at least three years/2200-hour educational programme of shiatsu therapy in the universities or colleges which are authorised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and pass the national exam to be licensed.

"Shiatsupractor" is the name given to a recently proposed international standardized shiatsu license. The name Shiatsupractor was first used in British Columbia, Canada in the 1990s. Presently, at the end of 2003, in the regions of North America (United States, and Canada), Europe (member nations of the EU), and Japan, the use of Shiatsupractor is officially protected as a registered trademark. In Japan, the educational standard for Shiatsupractor approval corresponds to that of the licenses for Anma, Massage, and shiatsu practitioners.

Shiatsu originated in Japan and has migrated to many corners of the Earth. As such, every nation and state has devised its own method of certification and licensure, often overlapping with the licences for massage. Certification around the world is converging on a basic 3 year course, with clinical practice and both written and live examinations, and which includes western anatomy as well as TCM.

In the U.S., one professional organisation for Asian Bodywork Therapy (including shiatsu) is the AOBTA (American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia). This organization is seeking statewide standardisation of Asian Bodywork licensure requirements. To date, the AOBTA has been named specifically in the licensure laws of Illinois and Washington, DC. The AOBTA is also working with the NCCAOM (National Certification Council for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) to introduce mandatory, standardized national board certification to the profession.

The AOBTA and NCCAOM require applicants to present a portfolio of training including anatomy and physiology, Chinese medicine, student clinic, primary discipline training, and elective coursework.