Brief History of Reiki The traditional Reiki story begins in the 1800’s, but was ancient even then. It was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist monk. Dr. Usui studied the Tibetan Buddhist sutras but didn’t find all the answers he sought. He went on retreat to the sacred mountain of Mount Kuri Yama not far from Kyoto in search of the answers to his questions. Here he discovered the miracle of Reiki and how to activate the healing energy. In the mid 1920’s, Dr. Usui met Dr. Chujiro Hayashi and together they worked closely to develop the actual “Form of Reiki”. These two were responsible for the creation and expansion of Reiki; one of the most simple, profound and complete healing systems widely used today. In 1941 not long before Dr. Hayashi’s death, he chose his successor, Mrs. HawayoTakata. She became the Third Reiki Grand Master teaching in Hawaii and she was responsible for bringing Reiki to the United States and Canada.