Japanese massage consists of a variety of different therapies including shiatsu and ashiatsu. These are the most well known types of therapy originating from Japan, but the country has produced many other modalities that are not as well known
Shiatsu uses the same concepts used in Chinese medicine to treat pain. Traditional Chinese Medicine works on the principle that there are meridians or pathways of energy that run through your body. This energy is known as qi in Chinese and ki in Japanese. When this energy gets blocked it causes dysfunction in the body and will present as sickness or pain.
In acupuncture, the practitioner uses needles to unblock these points. In shiatsu, the therapist uses finger and elbow pressure to unblock these points. Traditional ashiatsu also uses the same principles, but the therapist uses foot pressure to unblock the meridians instead of finger pressure.
A new form of ashiatsu has been invented recently called Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. It was invented in the United States and doesn't use the philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This form of ashiatsu has more in common with Swedish massage than Japanese massage therapies, but currently it is more common in Western countries than traditional ashiatsu. These days if you see that a therapist is advertising ashiatsu it is usually this Swedish massage based therapy that the are practicing as opposed to traditional Japanese massage.
History
The oldest reference to massage in Japan is in the Taiho Code from the 8th century. The oldest form of Japanese massage, anma, was referred to in this document. Anma and shiatsu are quite similar, but anma involves stroking and pressing and is done more quickly and vigorously than shiatsu.
In the 1300 and 1400's anma was taught to the blind in Japan. They believed that due to their blindness their other heightened senses made them better practitioners. Eventually, there was an elite class of blind medicinal practitioners working throughout the country.
Later, Western medical influences came from France and were combined with anma.
In the 1920's, Tokujiro Namikoshi invented shiatsu and started teaching the therapy to others. Originally he developed the technique as a youngster to help his mother who was suffering from arthritis. When he realized that he was able to help her by massaging her painful joints, he became interested in studying the human body and further developing their technique. Once he honed his technique he started teaching it to others. Shiatsu eventually become very popular and spread to other countries.
New Forms of Massage
There are other forms of massage therapy from Japan too. They combine Eastern and Western medical philosophies to make unique types of massage therapy that are very effective. Here is a list of some of those therapies.
Hoshino Therapy
Zen Shiatsu
Seitai Massage
Watsu
Ko Bi Do
These therapies are not as common as shiatsu in the rest of the world, but they can be used to treat a variety of conditions. If you know of any clinics in your area offer these types of massage I encourage you to try them out. Trying new types of massage can be a very good and interesting experience.
