I am often asked how Japanese acupuncture differs from that used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and other styles.

There are four practices in which the Japanese method differs:

• Japanese acupuncture uses thinner needles and shallower insertions, which results in more gain for less, or no pain.
• Acupuncturists using the Japanese method palpate the abdomen. When I do this, I’m gathering information about the body’s organ systems, which enables me to adjust the treatment to fit the patient’s needs.
• Japanese acupuncture makes extensive use of moxibustion to heighten the effectiveness of the acupuncture treatment. Moxa is a plant whose dried leaves are burned on needles or smouldered directly on the skin. The pleasant, therapeutic heat is a powerful tonic and improves circulation. I use seven different methodologies of moxibustion, depending on the patient’s complaint.
• Japanese acupuncture does not limit treatment to a single point. For example, if a patient complains of back pain, I not only treat the appropriate points on the back, but will also treat appropriate areas all along the involved meridian(s).

My teacher, Edward Obaidey, who has been practicing, writing a series of acupuncture books, and translating acupuncture texts, all while maintaining an extremely busy practice in Tokyo for the past 25 years, has been a great source of inspiration. He has instilled the “need” to study the major classics, to penetrate the essence of our art. The “need” was compulsory, this was a baptism by fire. I resisted and it was very difficult to grasp. Over time, my resistance faded and has morphed into a burning desire, pun intended! You see, out of 10,000 books extant about Chinese medicine, less than 1% have been translated into English. There are numerous texts that have been written and translated about this medicine but a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Literally speaking, Chinese and Japanese are logographic languages. Through these pictographs, meaning unfolds and speaks to us in a way that is greatly diminished when written in English. [Read more…]