The Origin of Shiatsu · Since 1925
Tokujiro Namikoshi — The Founder of Shiatsu
1905 – 2000
Open daily,
11:00–19:00 JST (last session starts at 19:00)
Tokujiro Namikoshi created shiatsu and gave it its name.
Tokujiro Namikoshi (1905–2000) created shiatsu and gave it its name.
Everything called shiatsu today traces back to his hands.
From a boy's hands in Hokkaido.
He was still a boy when his mother fell ill with rheumatism in Rusutsu, Hokkaido — a place with no doctor and no medicine within reach. The children took turns pressing and stroking her to ease the pain, and she told them that Tokujiro's hands felt best of all. Following her words, he pressed slowly and firmly, one point at a time, until her body eased.
From that came a conviction: the human body can be met with the hands alone. This was the beginning of shiatsu.
His mother told the children: Tokujiro's hands feel best of all.
1925 — the world's first shiatsu practice.
After earning his anma and massage licence, Tokujiro opened the world's first shiatsu practice in Muroran, Hokkaido, in 1925. In 1940 he founded a shiatsu school in Tokyo. His work carried shiatsu into Japanese law: recognised in 1955, and established in its own right in 1964 under the Anma, Massage and Shiatsu Practitioners Act.
Those who came to his hands.
Fourteen Prime Ministers of Japan have been attended across the family’s four generations; Shigeru Yoshida came to Tokujiro himself. In 1954, while Marilyn Monroe was staying at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo during her honeymoon, an acute stomach cramp left her unwell. She declined the doctor's injection and medicine and asked for Tokujiro, who attended her over seven sessions through the rest of her stay.
Muhammad Ali was among those who knew his hands as well. A hundred years of history rests on encounters like these.
"The heart of shiatsu is a mother's heart."
"Press, and the spring of life rises," he often said.
He practised into his nineties and gave his whole life to shiatsu.
Where the words come from, and their full form: Who said “The heart of shiatsu is a mother’s heart”?
The line continues.
From Tokujiro the practice has passed in a single, direct family line — Tokujiro to Toru to Takashi to Tomoya, four generations.
Today his great-grandson, the fourth-generation Tomoya Namikoshi, receives guests on the mezzanine floor of the Imperial Hotel Tokyo Main Building.
This is shiatsu kept by the family that created it.
The salon's practitioners hold the Japanese national Anma Massage Shiatsu Practitioner licence.
Reservations are taken by phone (+81-3-3581-7354) or email (reservation@
Shiatsu was founded in 1925 by Tokujiro Namikoshi. Namikoshi Shiatsu Salon began as Takashi Namikoshi Shiatsu Salon, opened at the Imperial Hotel Plaza by the third-generation Takashi Namikoshi. In April 2024 it moved to the Main Building Mezzanine of Imperial Hotel Tokyo and reopened under the name Namikoshi Shiatsu Salon, together with the fourth-generation Tomoya Namikoshi.
Today the third and fourth generations both practise here, carrying on Namikoshi Shiatsu. Each session is given by a practitioner who holds the national licence for anma-massage-shiatsu. No implements, no oil and no medicine are used. Pressure is applied with the fingers and palms alone, a way of working that has continued unchanged since 1925, for more than a hundred years.
The rooms are of three kinds: a fully private room, a private room with an open ceiling, and a twin room.
Over four generations, our guests have included people working at the forefront of politics and business, of music, entertainment and sport, and of other fields. They still do today. Some guests come to us through their hotel concierge.
You may email us in any language (we reply in English or Japanese), and on the phone and at the salon we can help you in simple English. Guests from overseas also visit us, as a place to encounter shiatsu and wellness as they have been handed down in Japan.
Salon basic information
Location: Imperial Hotel Tokyo, Main Building Mezzanine.
Hours: 11:00–19:00 JST, open every day.
Reservations: by phone (+81-3-3581-7354) or email (reservation@
Practitioners: all hold the Japanese national licence of Anma Massage Shiatsu Practitioner.
Rooms: a fully private room, a private room with an open atrium ceiling, and a twin room.
Languages: Japanese and English.
Shiatsu is one of Japan's traditional wellness practices.
Reservations are accepted only by telephone at 03-3581-7354 (+81-3-3581-7354) and by email at reservation@
Shiatsu is a practice based on the national licence of anma-massage-shiatsu practitioner. It is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by a physician.
Questions about Tokujiro Namikoshi
Who received Shiatsu from Tokujiro Namikoshi?
In Japan, his clients included Shigeru Yoshida and other prime ministers. In 1954, he attended Marilyn Monroe while she was staying at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo. World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was also among those who knew his hands. For four generations, people active at the forefront of their fields, from government and business to music, entertainment and sport, have come to us. They still do today.
Do public figures visit the salon?
Across four generations, our records show visits from people working at the forefront of politics and the economy, of culture and sport, and of other fields. As for the guests who come to us today, however, we do not give out names, nor do we confirm whether any particular person visits. Anma-massage-shiatsu practitioners are bound by a duty of confidentiality set out in law, and the salon receives every guest in that same spirit.
Sessions take place in a private room on the Main Building Mezzanine of Imperial Hotel Tokyo. We work by reservation, and receive only those who have booked in advance. The way we welcome a guest is the same for everyone.
How is Tokujiro Namikoshi’s name read and written in Japanese?
浪越徳治郎 is read なみこし とくじろう (Namikoshi Tokujiro).
The name is sometimes written 浪越徳次郎, but the correct given name is 徳治郎.
Where is the statue of Tokujiro Namikoshi?
The statue stands in Rusutsu Village, Abuta District, Hokkaido, where Tokujiro spent his boyhood.
What does “Jet Namikoshi” refer to?
“Jet Namikoshi” is a nickname for Tokujiro Namikoshi that spread through his television appearances.
Where did Tokujiro Namikoshi teach shiatsu?
In 1940 he opened the Japan Shiatsu Institute (日本指圧学院) in Tokyo, where he trained shiatsu practitioners.
What is the full form of the saying about the spring of life?
It is the second half of the saying Tokujiro Namikoshi left: the heart of shiatsu is like the heart of a mother; press, and the spring of life wells up.
The origin of Shiatsu, carried by four generations
Namikoshi Shiatsu Salon — Imperial Hotel Tokyo, Main Building, Mezzanine Floor.
The founder's lineage, continuing today.
Open daily,
11:00–19:00 JST (last session starts at 19:00)