In the Land of the Blind

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In the Land of the Blind
October, 2007
By Robert Weinstein, LAc
Acupuncture Today


Most people know that acupuncture is an ancient tradition of holistic medicine that has been practiced continuously in China for more than 2,000 years. What most people don't know is that many other Asian countries have a long history of acupuncture and have developed very vibrant and innovative approaches to this ancient healing tradition.

Japan is one of those countries with a very dynamic tradition of acupuncture and has taken a markedly different approach from that of the Chinese. While Chinese acupuncture has taken the lead in the practice of Oriental medicine in the West, interest is increasing in some of the other traditions, along with a growing movement in Japanese acupuncture.

A Brief History of Acupuncture in Japan

The practice of acupuncture seems to have originated in China roughly around 200-100 B.C. Knowledge of acupuncture appears to have been brought to Japan from China by a physician-monk named Zhicong (Chiso in Japanese) in the year 562 C.E.1 He is said to have brought with him more than 160 volumes of Chinese medical texts which, at the time, represented state-of-the-art medicine. By the 8th century, government-sponsored acupuncture medical schools had been established in Japan and medical knowledge from China continued to be assimilated by the Japanese. However, by the middle of the 10th century, political tensions began to arise between China and Japan, and contact with China became increasingly cut off. It was during this period that Japanese physicians began refining the Chinese system and making their own unique innovations to the medicine.

Around the end of the 17th century, some very interesting things started happening in Japanese acupuncture. It was during this time that a blind acupuncturist named Waichi Sugiyama became famous by inventing a special insertion tube (which still is in use today) that allowed for less painful insertion of the needle. Sugiyama went on to establish the first acupuncture school for the blind in Japan. This was the beginning of what has become one of the most interesting and unique characteristics of Japanese acupuncture: a strong influence ...