15/08/2026
Celebrating the birthdate of Mikao Usui, who brought Reiki to the world.
Mikao Usui 15th August 1865 to 9th March 1926
Mikao Usui was born on August 15, 1865, in Taniai, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Usui Sensei was born at a critical time in Japanese history: the end of the Edo period, the age of Feudalism. Japan was ruled by the Shogunate, which commanded the armies of Samurai warriors. In 1867, political dominion and rule were returned to the Emperor of Japan, and the age of Modernism began.
Usui Mikao was the son and grandson of a merchant family whose ancestry can be traced back to the Chiba Samurai clan. He was not a samurai. Details of his childhood are unknown, so many of the stories on the internet are fabrications.
In the small village of Taniai, there is only one Buddhist temple of the Jodo Shu (Pure Land) sect, where generation after generation of the Usui family’s remains are located. In the same village, there is a Shinto Shrine with a huge stone Torii (gate) where Usui Mikao and his younger brother’s names, Sanya and Kuniji, are engraved. Usui Sanya was a medical doctor in the army and opened a clinic in Tokyo after retirement. Usui Kuniji was a Police Officer in the local area where Usui Mikao was born. Kuniji retired and became a Shihan of the Gakkai and was teaching Reiki Ryoho to local people.
In 1922, Usui Mikao climbed Kurama Yama (Mount Kurama) north of Kyoto, the ancient capital city of Japan. At the time, he was almost 57 years old, an elderly man whose average lifespan was less than 50 years in Japan. Here, he undertook severe training by fasting and meditating for 21 days. He felt one Great Reiki and became enlightened, it is believed in March 1922. The exact date is not known. Usui Sensei accidentally realised that he had been given a wonderful gift, a mysterious healing ability, in his hands. Why Usui Sensei climbed the mountain and undertook severe training for 21 days is unknown.
