Reiki Training in Japan

Since taking my first Reiki training in 2016 it has been my dream to travel to Japan to take a training where this energy healing modality originated. Almost 10 years later, in November of 2025, that dream became a reality. Reiki has been life changing for me, and remains the foundation of all the work I do to this day.

Read on to discover how I got to Japan and what I learned from this experience.

My Journey to Japan

The day before heading to Japan, I came down with what everyone calls Bali belly. I was vomiting blood and couldn’t leave my bed on what was supposed to be my last full day on the Island of the Gods. When I was feeling well, I had thought booking a flight with a 20 hour layover and a free tour of Hong Kong sounded like a great idea, however that was a decision I was beginning to regret as I lay sick in my villa bed the day before I was to leave Bali. Luckily the area in Canguu I was staying at had a Circle K barely a minute away. I was able to lock in, throw on some clothes, shuffle over, and stock up on electrolyte drinks and crackers. I popped Peto Bismol and Gravol like candy, doing my best to get as much rest as possible before getting up at 5:00am to head to the airport. Luckily my combo seemed to do the trick, because when I woke up to my alarm at 4:45am, I was already starting to feel better. I arrived in Hong Kong and completed my free layover tour organized by trip.com. I highly recommend doing this tour if your layover is more than 8 hours, it was an awesome experience and I am so grateful I was feeling good enough to enjoy it! That night I tried my best to get comfortable, sprawling out over the hard seats of the terminal 11 waiting area. This moment is perfectly captured in the photo below. 

It was so uncomfortable that I eventually ended up laying directly on the floor, using my backpack as a pillow and with the blanket I received on my last flight wrapped around me. I didn't expect to get much rest, but just in case, I set my alarm for 6:00am  so I’d have time to start my adventure finding terminal 211 before my next departure at 8:00am. Airpods in, with a sleep mediation playing to drown out the constant airport announcements, pulled on my eye mask and tried to settle in. To my surprise I slept longer than I had expected, from around 1:00am - 5:30am, a solid four and a half hours, not bad considering the conditions. It took me about half an hour to find terminal 211, since the Hong Kong airport is massive. I arrived at my gate on time and boarded my flight to Tokyo!

Arriving in Japan

Before I get into my chaotic arrival in Japan, we have to go back to Bali for a bit of context. I’d booked a villa through Booking.com in Uluwatu that had an on-site receptionist. What I didn’t realize was that the receptionist only stayed until 8:00pm and I was arriving at 9:00pm. I didn’t have the lockbox code and genuinely thought I might end up sleeping outside until morning. Very luckily for me, my cab driver was a literal angel and stayed with me while I called the emergency number and a member of the staff arrived to give me my key. 

Based on that experience, this time I was well prepared with screenshots of how to access the lock box and let myself into my apartment in Tokyo. This was a life saver, and where is why. I knew taking a taxi an hour away from the airport was sure to be expensive in Japan, so in an effort to be as cost effective as possible I pre-booked a ride though booking. I had requested the pickup for 2:00pm since my flight landed at 1:20pm, and I figured I’d need time to get through customs, collect my luggage, buy a SIM card, and exchange some money. My mistake was including my flight number, which made Booking automatically update the pickup time to my landing time.

The second the plane touched down, I got a message saying my driver was already there and would only wait 40 minutes. Instant stress kicked in, but I did my best to stay calm and focus on sending Reiki into the process, to assist it in going as smoothly as possible. As I stood waiting in a long line to get though customs I was frantically messaging with who I assume was someone with booking since the driver was texting me in Japanese. Heart racing I got my passport stamped and waited for my luggage, which of course was the last bag to come out on the cortical. 

When I met my driver in the arrivals area, I tried to ask if we could stop so I could get a SIM card, however, I quickly realized she did not speak any English. She grabbed my suitcase and started literally running out the door, naturally I started running behind her. We started driving away and it was sinking in that I was now in a country where getting by in English is not the easiest, with no SIM card and no local currency. When you have access to Google translate and Google maps you can get by pretty much anywhere, but without either, I felt a little fear starting to creep in. I did my best to stay positive, but I was exhausted, hungry, and overstimulated. I kept sending Reiki and praying that it would be easy to open the lockbox, get my keys, and get into my apartment smoothly. 

The distant Reiki worked, my prayers were answered, and it was a breeze to get into my Tokyo apartment using the screenshots of instructions I had prepared. After about a month and a half of travelling though Thailand and Bali only having showers, I was ridiculously excited to find out the Tokyo apartment had a little bathtub. It was definitely much smaller than I am used to compared to my bathtub in Canada, however what it lacked in length it made up for in depth. It felt sooo good soaking in that little bathtub, pictured below.

My next mission was to get some food. I googled the nearest 7-11 which was thankfully a 3 minute walk away. This is where divine timing comes in, just as I was heading out the main door of the apartment complex, two men with their luggage were standing there looking confused. They asked if I could help because they couldn’t access their key. I showed them the steps, helped them successfully access their key, and before we went our separate ways we exchanged WhatsApp numbers. Prior to this meeting my only plan in Tokyo was to do my Reiki training, however that perfectly timed interaction allowed me to make two new friends who warmly welcomed me into their group and we had an absolute blast together! From a sumo wrestling experience, trying new sushi, zen gardens, figuring out the metro, and even Tokyo Disney - thanks to them I got to see so much more of the city than I had imagined! Thank you Adrea and Victor, you two are awesome!

The Reiki Training

After researching online, I decided to go to "Reiki by Yuko" for my training. The day of my training I took an uber to Yuko's address because I did not want to risk taking the wrong subway and being late, this training was too important to me to risk anything stressful happening on the way there. I arrived about half an hour early, very excited and a little nervous. I sat on the steps in front of her address, enjoying my sandwich from 7-11 while I waited. Exactly 5 minutes before our start time I knocked on her door and was warmly greeted by Yuko and welcomed into her home. She brought me into her Reiki room where she had my manual, water, and two clementines waiting for me.

I decided to book a level one training for a few different reasons. One was that I teach level one often and wanted to experience it the way my own students do, to feel how she introduces Reiki to someone new.  Another was out of respect for the practice itself. I wanted to come back to the basics and strengthen my own foundation. When I booked, I didn’t tell Yuko that I was already a Reiki Master because I wanted her to guide me as if it were my first time, without skipping anything or assuming I already knew it. I’m so glad I made that choice because it gave me exactly what I was hoping for.

I did share about half way through the training that I had taken my Reiki Master training and received my attunement in Canada and Yuko expressed her gratitude that I was humble and willing to retake a level 1 training instead of wanting to do another Master training. I also booked a treatment with my training, and it was such a beautiful experience.

I was surprised by how many new techniques I learned during our time together and extremely pleased with the quality of her teaching. What I loved most, though, is that she was more fun and funny than I had expected. For whatever reason, I had assumed she would be more strict and serious, but instead she was down-to-earth, practical, and truly enjoyable to learn from. I find that this is something I often experience myself with new students who come in expecting that it has to be done in an "exact" or "perfect" way. It was a beautiful reminder that following your own intuition is key. It was very validating that many of the techniques I intuitively developed over the years practicing and teaching Reiki were actually very closely aligned to some of the new techniques I learned from Yuko. Another aspect I enjoyed was becoming more clear and confident with the Japanese terminology. 

Yuko's lineage was very intriguing to me, and not something I was aware of prior to the training. When she shared more on her background with me, it was similar to my own path and desire to pursue the Japanese lineage of Reiki. Yuko's first training was with a practitioner who came from the Western lineage; however, she later retook all of her training with Hiroshi Doi who carries a direct lineage from Mikao Usui. She shared with me how Reiki is not nearly as popular in Japan as it is in North America as a result of the conditions in Japan following WW2. During that time, Reiki practitioners in Japan went into hiding and started secret mystery schools, where even Reiki Masters in Japan had no idea of the locations.  One of the members of those mystery schools eventually left and created his own more public Reiki school, Gendai Reiki Healing Association and that’s how Yuko was initiated into this direct lineage.

Overall, it was the highlight of my trip! Below we are pictured together when I received my certificate.

My favorite analogy that Reiki Master Yuko shared with me was how she described Reiki as a child receiving a new toy. Each day the child finds a new and creative way to play with it, and Reiki, she said, works the same way. Instead of trying to force anything, it becomes so much more natural when you play with the energy and explore all the different ways you can bring it into your life. 

I am so grateful for this experience and to share all this knowledge with my students. If you feel called, you click the link to book a training and attunement for yourself:

Book Reiki Training

Sending you so much love! 

-Samantha Dove xo