Ryōhō Shiatsu
ALL ABOUT SHIATSU: NEWS, BLOG, NEWSLETTER, COURSES
This site is entirely free and reports on everything that’s happening in the world of Shiatsu. With over 13,000 readers in 6 languages (French, English, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese), we offer in-depth articles, interviews, biographies and point studies. You’ll find a blog, a podcast, directories of practitioners and schools, a newsletter, courses, everything you need to know about Shiatsu.
What is Shiatsu?
When people feel pain or discomfort, they instinctively touch the painful area in order to relieve themselves. This instinctive gesture was developed into an art form in Asia through massage and digitopression. Subsequently, Chinese medicine demonstrated the interaction between meridian energy and the physical body. Created in Japan, Shiatsu (which means “finger pressure”) is the combination of these two approaches, instinctive and theoretical, technical and energetic. This manual technique was recognised as one of the most worthy of interest by the European Commission in 1997. It has also been an official medicine in Japan since 1964.
Latest articles
Book review: “Another self” by Cindy Engel
Let's be honest: this book is not a Shiatsu book. Instead, the author, Dr Cindy Engel, is an original combination of biology researcher and manual therapist (shiatsu, Thai massage, fasciatherapy and also Qigong teacher) in England. She published articles in scientific...
The Hirata Zones and Shiatsu
While many Shiatsu practitioners like to use meridians and moxibustion to support their treatment, few are familiar with Dr Hirata's zones and Ontake method of using moxas with pieces of bamboo. We've already written about the life of Dr Hirata on this blog, a genius...
Interview with Haruhiko Masunaga: in his father’s footsteps
For several years now, Haruhiko Masunaga has been carrying on the legacy of his father Shizuto Masunaga and teaching Iokai Shiatsu throughout the world. In return, the world of Shiatsu has been watching closely to see how he would cope, such was the enormity of the...
In memory of Akinobu Kishi (1949-2012)
Where did I end up there? All around me howls and screams, people rolled likecarpets across the floor, thrashing, shaking, plus a hell of a racket - in other words: pure chaos, mayhem! Was I perhaps too naive when I registered for a Sei-Ki workshop with Kishi in the...
Interview with Wilfried Rappenecker: a european vision for Shiatsu
Wilfried Rappenecker is one of the giants of European Shiatsu. His name is closely associated with German and Swiss Shiatsu, as well as with the enormous "Atlas of Shiatsu", now in its 4th edition. A doctor by profession, he decided to leave everything to do nothing...
Interview : Manabu Watanabe, founder of Shyuyou Shiatsu
Manabu Watanabe is one of those people who can speak in depth about the martial arts. For over 10 years, he was the disciple and assistant of Minoru Akuzawa, the extraordinary founder of Aunkai. Anyone who has ever seen Akuzawa Sensei perform his movements knows what...
Workshops to come
24-26 October 2025: Master Class in Vienna (Austria) – Shiatsu and martial arts
Why talk about martial arts and shiatsu at the same time? Oriental healing techniques developed in parallel with martial arts. One could even say that the two are the other side of the same coin. Intense training and injuries of varying degrees of severity led martial...
Anpuku Workshop with Ivan Bel in London – 7 & 8th, June 2025
Anpuku is an ancient Japanese abdominal massage technique integral to the practice of Shiatsu and traditional Japanese medicine. The term "Anpuku" translates to "peaceful abdomen" or "calming the abdomen." This is one of the manual traditions that most influenced the...
Learn Ryōhō Shiatsu
Ryōhō Shiatsu is a style of Shiatsu which originated in the martial arts branch, the two founders being long-standing martial arts practitioners. Its study integrates all the dimensions of shiatsu, namely :
- Mechanical shiatsu (relaxation and osteo-articular mobilisation)
- Energetic shiatsu (meridians, families and combinations of points)
- Therapeutic shiatsu (pathologies, pulse taking, oriental diagnosis)
- Personal development (self-shiatsu, feeling work, meditation, qi gong, etc.)
- Western medicine (anatomy, physiology, ethics, hygiene, pathology)
- Oriental medicine (theories, energetic physiology, visceral psychology, moxibustion)
To study this style, all you have to do is go to one of its schools.
