Komyo ReikiDo & Jikiden Reiki Systems:
A Historical Timeline and Development 

Whether you are new to Reiki or an experienced teacher exploring Japanese Reiki traditions, understanding the history of Komyo ReikiDo and Jikiden Reiki offers valuable context. The two systems share an important historical link through Chiyoko Yamaguchi Sensei, yet they developed independently and differ in philosophy, curriculum, techniques, and areas of emphasis. Hyakuten Inamoto Sensei¹ founded Komyo ReikiDo, while Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her son established Jikiden Reiki.

 

This historical timeline therefore does not aim to establish one system as more authentic or valuable than another. Rather, it clarifies the historical development of Komyo ReikiDo and Jikiden Reiki, explains where their histories intersect, and identifies where the available evidence remains incomplete or open to interpretation.

 

It is important to recognise that the informal Reiki teachings Chiyoko Yamaguchi shared with Hyakuten Inamoto in 1997 and 1998 differed from the structured curriculum that later became Jikiden Reiki. Inamoto Sensei attended Jikiden Reiki classes as an interpreter and has direct knowledge of Jikiden’s curriculum when it was formalised in 1999. The Jikiden Reiki curriculum subsequently developed further, including the introduction of a fourth Reiki symbol and Jikiden's form of Nentatsu. The full extent and timing of other changes are not publicly known.

 

The following timeline provides an overview of both systems' historical development.

 

1997 — Hyakuten Inamoto begins training with Chiyoko Yamaguchi

Hyakuten Inamoto began training with Chiyoko Yamaguchi, who taught the Reiki she remembered from her training with Chujiro Hayashi Sensei. Weekly gatherings included simple hands-on practice and Reiju², but they followed no formal curriculum. This informal training included no manuals, history, or Reiki levels, and only three symbols were known at the time. After approximately six months of training, Chiyoko Yamaguchi trained Hyakuten Inamoto to conduct Reiju.

 

1998 — Komyo Reiki Kai is founded

Following independent research into Reiki history, Mikao Usui (the father of Reiki systems worldwide), and his techniques, Hyakuten Inamoto founded Komyo Reiki Kai in 1998 (from 2016, the name was changed to Komyo ReikiDo). From its inception, the system emphasised Seishin Shuyō (spiritual cultivation), which Usui Sensei described his Reiki system, Usui Reiki Ryoho. Komyo Reiki also incorporates insights from Inamoto Sensei's own experience and research. Komyo ReikiDo fundamentally follows the Reiki Principles as a practice for both mind and body. Spiritual cultivation is not treated as separate from hands-on Reiki practice, but as part of an integrated approach.

 

1999 — Jikiden Reiki is formalised

After researching Chujiro Hayashi’s techniques with the recollections of his mother Chiyoko Yamaguchi Sensei, Tadao Yamaguchi created a formal curriculum and manuals, calling his Reiki system Jikiden Reiki.

 

Several Japanese Reiki teachers attended the initial classes, including Hiroshi Doi, founder of Gendai Reiki Hō, who also served as an advisor to Jikiden Reiki. He became the first officially registered student of Jikiden Reiki and attended with five of his own students.

 

Hyakuten Inamoto became the seventh person in the Jikiden Reiki lineage. For approximately one year, Inamoto Sensei translated classes for overseas students, including a class with Reiki Master William Lee Rand and students from the United States.

 

After about a year, Hyakuten Inamoto Sensei's involvement with the Yamaguchi family and Jikiden Reiki ended. Thereafter, Komyo Reiki Kai and Jikiden Reiki continued to develop independently, each establishing its own curriculum and approach to Reiki practice.

 

Jikiden Reiki emphasised hands-on Reiki treatment and addressing physical conditions.

 

2000 — Frank Arjava Petter begins training in Jikiden Reiki

Frank Arjava Petter met Chiyoko Yamaguchi and began training in Jikiden Reiki. He became a Jikiden Shihan in 2002 and was appointed Vice-President in 2003.

 

He became the main teacher, teaching overseas students in English because Tadao Yamaguchi could only speak Japanese. He has since resigned from the Vice-Presidency and now teaches his own system, Arjava Reiki. Frank Arjava Petter confirmed this information.

 

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Symbols

It is worth noting that many Reiki systems worldwide use different symbols yet still achieve effective results in practice. Differences in symbols do not, in themselves, establish whether one Reiki system is more or less authentic than another.

 

Komyo ReikiDo uses four symbols, while Jikiden Reiki uses three, with a possible fourth symbol said to be used during Reiju.

 

The first three symbols are identical in both systems. According to Hyakuten Inamoto’s account of his training with Chiyoko Yamaguchi in 1997, only three symbols were known and taught at that time.

 

A single website testimonial suggests that Jikiden Reiki may include a fourth symbol used during Reiju.  To date, no additional sources mention or substantiate Jikiden’s 4th symbol. The historical background of this symbol remains unestablished and unverified.

 

In Komyo ReikiDo, the fourth symbol is DKM—an abbreviation associated with higher-level Reiki teachings and not openly discussed in detail.

 

Doi Hiroshi Sensei, a long-time member of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai³, has indicated that DKM⁴ was not originally used as a symbol in the form it is understood today, but rather represented a basic mental and spiritual attitude that a Reiki Teacher was expected to embody in Usui Sensei's time.

 

Although it was not a symbol then, DKM was introduced as the fourth symbol in the Takata lineage⁵. It remains a mystery whether Hayashi Sensei or Takata Sensei first formalised DKM as a physical Reiki symbol. We know Takata Sensei taught DKM to her students⁶.

 

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Techniques

Komyo ReikiDo incorporates traditional techniques associated with Mikao Usui, which formed part of Hyakuten Inamoto's historical research before Jikiden Reiki was established.

 

Jikiden Reiki places greater emphasis on Chujiro Hayashi Sensei's methods⁷. Following historical research by Tadao Yamaguchi to supplement and expand his mother's recollections, the Jikiden Reiki curriculum incorporated additional techniques in 1999.

 

Among these is a technique called Nentatsu (念達). Komyo ReikiDo uses Nentatsu⁸ to focus positive intention, in keeping with its interpretation of the approach associated with Usui Sensei. Jikiden Reiki also includes a form of Nentatsu, presented within its own curriculum as a formal prayer. The two approaches reflect differences in how each system understands and teaches the technique.

 

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Reiju

The Reiju that Hyakuten Inamoto learned directly from Chiyoko Yamaguchi was a relatively simple procedure and differs from the Reiju now taught within Jikiden Reiki.

 

Komyo ReikiDo also developed its own approach to Reiju.

 

Reiju varies across many Reiki systems, including Gendai Reiki Hō, the International House of Reiki, and the Usui/Tibetan lineage. Although the methods differ, these systems generally view Reiju as a form of initiation or attunement intended to support the student's awareness and Reiki practice.

 

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Komyo ReikiDo Philosophy

Komyo ReikiDo is fundamentally based on Inamoto Sensei’s interpretation of Mikao Usui Sensei’s description of his Usui Reiki Ryoho as spiritual training, or Seishin Shuyō (精神修養).

 

Since its inception in 1998, Komyo ReikiDo has strongly emphasised spiritual cultivation to achieve a "Right Mind," or correct mindful perception, leading to a clearer and more balanced way of perceiving and responding to life.

 

While spiritual development is central, the system also incorporates hands-on practice and other traditional Reiki methods traceable to Usui Sensei.

 

Komyo ReikiDo therefore approaches Reiki as a practice involving both mind and body. Spiritual cultivation and hands-on practice are not viewed as separate activities, but as complementary aspects of the overall practice.

 

The aim is balance and harmony between the two, rather than focusing exclusively on either spiritual development or physical treatment.

 

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Lineages and Tradition

Komyo ReikiDo is a Japanese Reiki system, but it does not claim to be a “traditional” system in the sense of being completely unchanged since Usui Sensei’s time. There are no historical records that provide a complete account of Usui Sensei's original curriculum, techniques, symbols, or teaching methods.

 

In the context of Reiki systems, "traditional" would imply a Reiki system passed down exactly as Usui Sensei taught it. Given the lack of surviving historical records⁹, no modern Reiki system can claim to reproduce Usui Sensei's teachings exactly.  Therefore, any Reiki system called Usui Reiki Ryoho today, is not the Usui Reiki Ryoho of Mikao Usui, but an interpretation of it.

 

From a historical perspective, Reiki lineages descending through Hayashi Sensei can reasonably be described as reflecting the development of Hayashi-style Reiki, rather than necessarily representing an unchanged continuation of every aspect of Usui Sensei's teaching. This distinction does not diminish the significance of the Hayashi lineage. Rather, it recognises that Reiki developed through successive teachers and that changes in teaching, terminology, techniques, and curriculum are part of that history.

 

When Japanese Reiki teachers modify the Reiki system they received from their teacher, they give the resulting system or organisation a different name.

 

Hayashi Sensei provides an early example of this distinction. His organisation was known as Hayashi Reiki Kenkyu Kai rather than simply continuing under the name Usui Reiki Ryōhō.

 

Similarly, the name Komyo ReikiDo indicates that the system developed beyond its historical roots while still acknowledging and preserving its lineage and connection to the Reiki teachings from which it developed.

 

Jikiden Reiki likewise represents a distinct development based on the teachings remembered by Chiyoko Yamaguchi, together with subsequent research and curriculum development undertaken by Tadao Yamaguchi.

 

Both systems can therefore be understood as developments arising from a shared historical connection; they subsequently became independent systems with their own curricula and approaches.

 

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Respect for all Reiki systems

This historical timeline does not aim to establish one system as more authentic or valuable than another. Rather, it clarifies the historical development of Komyo ReikiDo and Jikiden Reiki.

 

Komyo ReikiDo does not regard its lineage as superior or inferior to any other Reiki tradition.

 

Different systems offer different ways to learn and practise Reiki Ryoho, the art of Reiki healing.

 

While lineage may be important to some Reiki practitioners and teachers, what matters most is how a Reiki system resonates with the individual. All Reiki systems, each offering its own perspective, can support healing for oneself and others—and that is the fundamental purpose of Reiki.

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Historical Note:

This article reflects the historical development of Komyo ReikiDo as described by Hyakuten Inamoto Sensei, together with publicly available historical research and oral testimony from various sources including Jikiden Reiki practitioners/teachers.

 

Readers should understand that different researchers, Reiki teachers, and Reiki organisations continue to interpret aspects of Reiki history differently. Many events and developments are supported primarily by personal testimony rather than a complete surviving documentary record.

 

¹ Hyakuten Inamoto is a Japanese Jodo Shu monk, International teacher and Reiki Researcher. He is a native of Kyoto Japan.

 

² Reiju is the formal ritual that makes students consciously aware of Reiki, so the ability to practise Reiki is possible. The literal English translation of the Japanese word Reiju is initiation. However, many teachers have called it attunement.

 

³ Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, or Gakkai for short, was founded by Usui Mikao Sensei in 1922, a month after Usui Sensei came down from the mountain, Mt Kurama, after being hit with Great Reiki (commonly translated as enlightenment).

 

⁴ ‘Reiki – The Path to Oneness with the Universe’ by author Olaf Bohm in 2025, page 247, under the heading ‘The Fourth Symbol’.

 

⁵ A Reiki lineage is like a family tree of teachers, tracing the line of teaching back to the founder Usui Mikao. Hawayo Takata Sensei founded the Takata lineage and later introduced Reiki to the West. According to accounts of Takata Sensei’s life, she sought treatment for her gallbladder disease and became well through Reiki; she became a student of Hayashi Chujiro Sensei and lived with his family for over a year. During this time, she worked in Hayashi Sensei’s clinic and became a Shinpiden (teaching level) student. It is believed that Takata Sensei learned about DKM from Hayashi Sensei. However, it is unclear when DKM changed from a possible spiritual concept or ideal into a formal Reiki symbol, or whether Hayashi Sensei or Takata Sensei initiated the symbol.

 

⁶ Takata Sensei taught DKM as the Master symbol. ‘Alternate Currents’ by Reiki researcher Justin B. Stein, page 200.

 

⁷ Treatment manuals contained lists of ailments and suggested hand positions and courses taught basic anatomy. ‘Alternate Currents’ by Reiki researcher Justin B. Stein, page 75.

 

⁸ There are traditional techniques that use Nentatsu, such as Seiheki Chiryo Ho (Habits Treatment Method), but it is also used in Reiki treatments without the formality of these techniques. Komyo ReikiDo uses both informal and formal techniques when treating others.  Nen = mind, tatsu = send/deliver.Bottom of Form

 

⁹ Many of the written records of Usui Sensei were destroyed when Tokyo was bombed in WWII. A memorial stone near his gravesite outlines his life, and the Gakkai carry a small booklet with Usui’s words. In 2026, Usui Sensei’s CV came to light, outlining his life when he worked in Taiwan. However, his childhood remains unknown, and his activities after his time in Taiwan are not detailed.