About Seiyu Kageyama

The word 'acupuncture' evokes images of thin, tiny needles pricked onto the skin for treatment, but Mr. Seiyu Kageyama has mastered many types of needle healing, including a technique that uses a 30-inch-long needle that pierces entirely through the injured body part.

Ancestral techniques like these are extremely rare. Mr. Kageyama, called “King Hand” by the Principality of Monaco, is only one of three acupuncturists in the world who has mastered this unique skill. Called Zhenjue, or "real feel" needle, this technique allows Mr. Kageyama to sense the presence of the disease and the position of the abnormalities caused by the sickness. Thus allowing him to treat it. In the past, Mr. Kageyama, received numerous accolades from Harvard University, celebrities, the Royal Family of Japan, and the Principality of Monaco. He recently opened a clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area with the goal of bringing this ancient technique to a wider audience.

An Ancient Healing Art

Mr. Kageyama began studying medicine at age 14 during the height of the Cultural Revolution in China. During this tumultuous time, schools stopped functioning and his father decided to teach him traditional Chinese medicine that had been passed down from his ancestors 300 years ago.

At first, Mr. Kageyama studied unwillingly because his father made him memorize complex Chinese medical text. At such a young age, he didn't take much of it to heart. This all changed as he observed patients coming in and out of their home clinic. There were those who came by train and by foot, sometimes walking up to three days. Teetering on their feet, they seemed more dead than alive when they arrived. Most of these patients had been deemed incurable by the hospitals, but after several sessions of acupuncture and cupping treatments by his father, their health improved dramatically. To the young Mr. Kageyama, this was miraculous. He became determined to master Chinese medicine and dedicated his life to treat the sick.

To fully understand the various acupuncture techniques, Mr. Kageyama's first test subject was himself. He applied acupuncture needles to various parts of his own body in order to feel it's full effects. In addition to all the vital organs, this also included the eye sockets. Genuine acupuncture requires a steady hand and intense strength in the fingers. To achieve this, Mr. Kageyama slowly built up his strength using push ups. He started with 500 push-ups using five fingers. In the end, he was able to do 100 push-ups using just 1 finger!

Bringing Acupuncture to the Rest of the World

After years of practice in China, Mr. Kageyama moved to Japan in 1985 and opened a clinic in the Ginza district of Tokyo. Specializing in Parkinson's Disease, severe chronic pain, cancer, stroke, diabetes, depression, and other illnesses considered incurable or difficult in the west, Mr. Kageyama quickly gain widespread fame. At the American International Acupuncture Symposium in 2010, his paper titled "Integrative Medicine to Treat Parkinson’s Disease” received great attention and was selected as the best paper at the conference. In 2013, Mr. Kageyama opened his first clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area in order to bring acupuncture to more people in the west.