TOYOHARI – JAPANESE NEEDLE THERAPY AN EIGHT-MONTH, TWENTY- DAY POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM

Toyohari is a form of Keiraku Chiryo – Japanese Meridian Therapy. It is a theoretically simple but technically sophisticated complete system of acupuncture. It is different from most other forms of acupuncture in that it uses a more delicate treatment method, placing greater emphasis on the use of pulse diagnosis and palpation skills.  The Toyohari Association has developed quite unique training and teaching methods that can accelerate the learning of skills that usually take many years of practice to develop.  Many who have studied the Toyohari style of acupuncture have reported that it is more like what they thought they were going to be studying in acupuncture school.

The Toyohari Association was founded in 1959, evolving out of earlier developments in Meridian Therapy in the 1930s and 1940s.  The Toyohari Association began as an Association devoted to Japanese Meridian Therapy for blind students and practitioners. Today it includes both sighted and blind practitioners.  Many of the senior instructors in the Association are blind, and have considerable clinical experience.  Toyohari is taught in Japan as an acupuncture post-graduate training in monthly meetings in Tokyo. Instruction in Japan is given through the highly organized, academic and hands-on clinical training methods of the senior members of the Association, utilizing the “Kozato-study method”.  The European Branch of the Toyohari Association  (“EBTA” for short) has developed a training program that follows the Tokyo based program.  The late past President of the Association, Kodo Fukushima, wrote a book available in English translation: “Meridian Therapy”, which is required reading for this program. The book along with various supplies are included in the cost of the program. The programs were recently upgraded to include 20 days of in-class instruction (145 hours) and online pre-recorded lectures for each weekend (15 hours). The additional videos extend the program and permit more in-class demonstrations, practice and explanations.

Graduation from this 160-hour program entitles graduates to join the European Branch of the Toyohari Association and through it one of its European branches.  At present there are eight branches: Dutch, British, German, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish and Israeli, with members in eight other countries.  The principle purpose of the branches is to foster and improve clinical skills by providing ongoing study opportunities both in Branch study groups and study sessions with senior instructors in Japan and Europe.  The European Branch of the Toyohari Association (EBTA) has been established to provide the structure for these educational opportunities.  Graduates will receive a certificate signed by the EBTA and the Tokyo headquarters of the Association.

Principles amongst the techniques used in the Toyohari system are:

Diagnosis: focusing especially on pulse diagnosis and touch diagnosis;

Treatment: very delicate supplementation technique; various draining techniques; harmonizing technique (waho); “contact” needling techniques (sanshin); warming moxa (chinetsukyu), direct moxa (okyu), cupping (kyukaku), bloodletting (shiraku), specialized treatment of the neck and inguinal regions to relieve symptoms (naso & muno), specialized use of the extraordinary vessels (kikei), specialized use of midday-midnight method (shigo).

Studying in the Toyohari program will help

• Graduates to considerably improve their pulse and tactile diagnostic and assessment skills.
• Graduates to develop a greater sense of qi sensitivity through applying the needling techniques of the Association.
• Graduates to learn a range of methods specifically aimed at relieving symptoms.

Upon completion and becoming an EBTA member

• Members are able to participate in ongoing study groups and workshops in Europe.
• Programs are taught by qualified instructors including two founding EBTA instructors: Stephen Birch (Academic Dean of the EBTA) and Junko Ida (President of the EBTA). Both have studied extensively in Japan, Europe and the US, and up to nine other instructors: Joke Bik-Nowee, Marian Fixler, Sue Pready, Miguel Cabrer Mir, Anja Stiehle, Sascha Gröbe, Nicolas Hüppelshäuser, Lars Schuster and Naoko König who have all studied extensively in Europe and Japan.

The programs are taught in English. For each day of class there will be one to two instructors (depending on the number of students) to supervise the practical training, helped by graduates as teaching assistants. Over 60% of the program will involve hands-on practice of the various methods and techniques. To ensure maximum hands-on training, the number of participants will be limited in each program.

The programs often fill quite quickly, so it is advised not to delay application, as applications will be taken on a first-come-first-served basis.

To qualify for each program you must have completed a training program in acupuncture.