Journey To Where It All Began

A Pilgrimage to Japan for Students of Any Level of Reiki

April 21-29, 2023

(Note: This tour is a fundraiser for Reiki Centers of America and its projects.)


Christopher Tellez, Reiki Master, and Yoshie Hara, tour guide, will lead your Reiki pilgrimage tour of Japan
Christopher Tellez (right) on the 2019 Reiki History Tour, Ohara, Japan.

With a professional Japanese guide & translator, Hiro, and Reiki Master Christopher Tellez of the San Francisco Reiki Center, we’ll start in Kyoto on April 21st to connect to the spirit of Japan and learn some historical context for the times in which Mikao Usui lived. Then we’ll take a day trip to Tokyo where we will be joined by the foremost historian of Reiki, Dr. Justin Stein, for a tour of Usui’s memorial and family grave, and other important sites of the Meiji era that were influential to Usui. That night we’ll return to Kurama with Dr. Stein, and the next day he will lead us on a tour of Mount Kurama, the birthplace of Reiki. We will climb Mount Kurama three different days and visit the sacred spots Usui Sensei would have experienced as he ascended the mountain for the fateful 21-day fast and meditation that led him to Reiki. We will also descend the mountain to Kibune, one of the most beautifully scenic riverside towns in Japan (a UNESCO World Heritage site). Our guide, Hiro, will lead us for two more days of tours around Kyoto to places such as the famous Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and the tori gates of the Fushi Inari Shrine to help us get the historical view of Japan and to experience the culture, both ancient and modern.

To ensure an intimate and fully interactive experience, this tour is limited to 14 travelers, and all should have been initiated into the first level of Reiki before the tour begins.


Photo of Dr. Justin Stein with a 2019 tour group in Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Justin Stein with members of the 2019 Reiki History Tour in Tokyo, Japan.

Payments and Deadlines

The tour fee is US $3,250 per person based on double occupancy.  A non-refundable deposit of US $1,000 is due upon registration to hold your space. The Japanese tour company we are working with will accept payment in full or partial payments and accrue the balance until your account is paid in full. The final day to register for the tour is March 7, 2023, and that is also the final day to pay any remaining balance on your account directly to the tour company in Japan.

Single Room Supplement: $225 for a private room.

What’s Included

  • Double occupancy accommodations from April 21-29
  • Private airport transfers on arrival and departure
  • 17 meals: 8 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 3 dinners
  • Five Open Evenings for you to explore Kyoto’s restaurant and nightlife scene
  • Dr. Justin B. Stein, PhD. guiding us through Reiki historical sites
  • Our exclusive Reiki Historical Guide to Japan
  • All transportation including bullet train to and from Tokyo
  • All admission fees
  • Professional guide service with Yoshie Hara
  • Provided interpretation from Japanese to English
  • Organizational costs

 

More Details

Flights: Flights to and from Kansai International Airport (KIX) to coincide with the Japan Reiki Tour are not included, and are the responsibility of each person who registers for the tour.

Tips for Guide: In Japan, it is customary for tour groups to collectively give a tip of between $35 and $50 per day to the tour guide. Please expect to contribute about $50 to the tip pool near the end of the trip. It is also common, but not required, to bring a small gift from your country for the guide.

The itinerary: The tour itinerary is subject to change based on local conditions in Japan at time of travel, however we don’t anticipate any substantial changes.

For More Information Contact
Christopher Tellez, 415-800-8790, info@sfreikicenter.com

About our Guides

Photo of Dr. Justin B. Stein PhD. in the Saihoji Temple Cemetery in Tokyo Japan on a 2019 Reiki History Tour
Dr. Justin B. Stein PhD. in the Saihoji Temple Cemetery in Tokyo Japan on a 2019 Reiki History Tour
Dr. Justin B. Stein (PhD, Study of Religion, University of Toronto) is an instructor in Asian Studies at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. His research program focuses on how exchanges within transnational networks have shaped spiritual/religious practices and ideas in the North Pacific region (North America, Hawaii, and Japan). Dr. Stein’s work on Reiki, including original translations of historical materials, has been published in three languages, including academic volumes and journals and the German-language Reiki Magazine. His upcoming book, Alternate Currents: Reiki Healing, North Pacific Networks, and the Circulation of Transnational Spiritual Therapies (expected 2023), focuses on the life work of Hawayo Takata, whose cultural translation turned Reiki from an obscure Japanese practice into a source of healing and spiritual transformation for thousands of Americans and Canadians. Dr. Stein is also a Reiki Practitioner.

Hiro, Japan tour guide, playing the guitar

Hiro was born in Tokyo. At age seven, he moved to Moscow where he spent the rest of the elementary school years. At university Hiro played drums in a jazz band and still enjoys playing as a hobby, along with learning the guitar. Hiro’s other hobbies include paragliding, and his current personal record is flying 108km in the skies of Australia. Having visited over twenty countries, Hiro understands diverse points of view, a trait which allows him to clearly explain Japan’s history and culture to guests from various backgrounds. With ten years of experience under his belt, he is also knowledgeable, flexible, and able to provide a high level of insight and customization to the travelers he guides.
Photo of Christopher Tellez, Reiki Master, of the San Francisco Reiki Center
Reiki Master Christopher Tellez of the SF Reiki Center

Christopher Tellez is a Reiki Master and founder of the SF Reiki Center. He first visited Japan with Grandmaster Phyllis Lei Furumoto, who authorized him to continue leading Reiki tours of Japan using the resources and itineraries she first created to impart a full Reiki experience and contextual history of the life and times of Reiki’s founder Mikao Usui. Christopher is a member of The Reiki Alliance, the international organization of Reiki Masters founded by the students of Hawayo Takata, and serves on the boards of both the Northwest Reiki Gathering and of Reiki Centers of America. He is a former board member of Reiki Foundation International, the Reiki Home Project.