Acupuncture has been practiced in Japan for over 1,600 years, having been passed down through the generations by an unbroken lineage of practitioners since it was first introduced in that country in 410 AD. Japanese acupuncture has continually evolved over the centuries to reflect the unique characteristics of that country’s climate, geography, culture and sensibilities of its population. As a result, Japanese acupuncturists established their own methods and traditions which in recent times have spread overseas and become standard practice in China, South Korea and other countries around the world.
Some unique features of Japanese acupuncture include:
- the use of ultra fine needles for pain free needling
- gentle needling techniques with shallow insertion
- non-insertion contact needling
- use of fewer needles
- Oshide – left and right hand needling positions
- subtle De Qi
- contact and non-insertion needling techniques
- the use of pure grade mugwort for direct and semi-direct moxibustion
- an emphasis on hands-on diagnostic methods such as abdominal and pulse diagnosis