Still quite unknown in Europe, Yin Shiatsu starts to make a name for itself. But at the origin of this name there is a man and not the least: Nobuyuki Takeuchi sensei. One can easily think of him as a modern-day samurai, uncompromising on behaviour, commitment and study, values that he applies first and foremost to himself. But what he says in this interview will ring true to all practitioners who have committed themselves to the Way of Shiatsu.
Meeting with a master, in all senses of the word. Ivan Bel : Hello sensei. Thank you for accepting our invitation for this interview. From which region of Japan and from which background do you come?
Nobuyuki Takeuchi: I was born in Fukushima prefecture, in the locality of Yoshimaruyama. I grew up in a peasant family and I was the youngest of three sons. It was around the age of Have you been introduced to pharmacopoeia, Kanpo medicine and acupuncture? What memories do you have of these years of learning? It was at the same time that I started to study with my uncle. He was an admirable person. However, my affinity with Taoist thought led me to question Shiatsu as it existed.
With the aim of developing my Ki to diagnose and treat patients, I fasted two days a week and practiced zazen daily. How did this character inspire you? It is above all his attitude, his state of mind that inspired me. So I have to work on myself, through the practice of fasting for example, and my own determination to be able to respond to it. This is the Way of Bushido. What are the peculiarities of your method that differentiates it from other existing currents?
This extreme determination led me to found Yin Shiatsu as it exists today. I formalised a different approach to the Shiatsu existing at the time in Japan, allowing in particular to treat by distal points, without directly touching the affected areas or by connecting areas of the body by similarity of form.
