Chujiro Hayashi

Developer of Reiki (1880–1940)

Chujiro Hayashi (林 忠次郎), a disciple of Mikao Usui, played a major role in the transmission of Reiki out of Japan. Hayashi was a naval physician and employed Reiki to treat his patients. He began studying with Usui in the early 1920s. He made his branch, Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu kai in Tokyo, Shinano machi while his master Usui was still alive, and has kept the way of Usui's teaching. Hayashi initiated and trained Hawayo Takata and helped her bring Reiki to Hawaii. He also trained Chiyoko Yamaguchi, the founder of Jikiden Reiki. In 1940, Hayashi committed seppuku, a Japanese form of ritual suicide.

Chujiro Hayashi was born in Tokyo on September 15, 1880. Having graduated from the 30th class at the Japan Naval Academy in 1902, he served in a port patrolling division in the Russo Japanese War from February 4 of that year until a peace treaty concluded the War on September 5, 1906. In 1918 he became a Director of Ominato Port Defence Station where Kanichi Taketomi (later to become the 3rd chairman of Usui Ryoho Gakkai) was the Chief of Staff. "Ominato" was a port located at the foot of Mt Osore, Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori, in the North of Japan. At that time, defense ports were regarded as the second most important ports after Naval Base ports. Hayashi had a wife and two children. His wife, Chie, was born in 1887 and married him after she graduated from Shizuoka Women's High School. Their first child, Tadayoshi, was born in 1903 and majored in economics at Keio University. Kiyoe, their second child, was born 7 years later and she went on to study at the same school as her mother.

In the beginning of the 1920s Hayashi became a student of Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki. Being a physician, he soon became one of Usui's prominent students in the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. Later on he became instrumental in the worldwide spread of Reiki. In 1925 Hayashi became a Shihan, and on January 16, 1926, he became a senior teacher and a board member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. After Mikao Usui's death, around 1927–1928, Hayashi separated from the original group and founded the Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai. In 1935, his institute was registered at 28 Higashi shinano cho, Yotsuya, Tokyo, now known as 27 Shinano cho, Shinjuku ward, Tokyo. Upon the invitation of Hawayo Takata, Hayashi visited Hawaii between October 1937 and February 1938. According to the Hawaii Hochi newspaper he taught 350 students from all races the practitioner degrees, Shoden and Okuden, while in Hawaii. Chujiro Hayashi ended his life at his villa in Atami – a hot spring resort near Mt Fuji – on May 11, 1940. He was succeeded by his wife, Chie Hayashi as the head of the Hayashi Reiki Kenkyukai, which closed its doors in the mid 1950s. Only two of his students and their successors are known to teach Reiki in public, Chiyoko Yamaguchi and Hawayo Takata.

Through Hawayo Takata Reiki spread first in the US and later all over the world. Some changes happened to the way of practicing it in this process of internationalization. Chiyoko Yamaguchi founded the Jikiden Reiki Institute in 1999, together with her son Tadao Yamaguchi. In Jikiden Reiki the original teachings are unchanged, the course content is identical to what Chiyoko Yamaguchi and other family members learned from Chujiro Hayashi in the 1930s.