Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been practiced in Japan since the sixth century, after being brought from the land of Wu 呉 (China) by Chiso (知聡) via silk roads in 562.
The Edo Period 江戸時代(17th-19th centuries) saw the country closed to almost all foreigners save the Dutch, who were allowed to trade from a small man made island off of the coast of Nagasaki. This period of isolation caused Japanese acupuncture to evolve in many unique ways including further development of palpation diagnosis and a greater presence of blind acupuncturists.
Sashi-de (Puncturing hand) and Oshi-de (Pushing/Searching hand) techniques were developed and aided in both diagnosis and gentleness in needling. At this time, a blind acupuncturist named Waichi Sugiyama 杉山和一 (1610-1694) revolutionized acupuncture by inventing the guide tube for needle insertion.
In 1878, the first school for the blind was built in Kyoto, and acupuncture was one of the vocations that the blind could choose. Shortly after this time, lymphatic acupuncture and the constant needle stimulation (unshin) techniques, were developed in 1915 by Tatsuo Hirakata 平方龍男(1889-1976), a blind acupuncturist. During treatment with this form of acupuncture, only a single needle was used with very shallow insertion (typically 3-5mm). The needle was constantly stimulated for variable periods of time depending on tissue texture. This method allowed for activation of the lymphatic capillaries, which exist in abundance at the dermal layer of skin.
