Sources

Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/alternate-currents-reikis-circulation-in-the-twentieth-century-north-pacific.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/alternate-currents-reikis-circulation-in-the-twentieth-century-north-pacific

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-alternate-currents-reiki-s-circulation-i,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/alternate-currents-reikis-circulation-in-the-twentieth-century-north-pacific},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Justin B. Stein is a scholar of religion, and this University of Hawaii Press monograph is his archival history of Reiki, tracing the practice from its origin with Usui Mikao in 1920s Japan through its transformation and spread across North America and the wider Pacific over the twentieth century. Its strength is documentary, Stein works from Japanese and English archival sources to establish an actual dated history, correcting the frequent popular claim of a far more ancient origin. Its limit is that as a history of transmission it centers on how Reiki moved and changed institutionally, so a claim about the specific content of a particular Reiki lineage's technique needs a source focused on that lineage's own teaching.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Published by the University of Hawaii Press as Justin B. Stein's archival scholarly history of Reiki, peer reviewed university press scholarship.

Notes

Archival history of Reiki from Usui Mikao in 1920s Japan to its North American forms; the source for dating a practice often given a false antiquity.

Citation

Author

Justin B. Stein

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Publication Year

2023

Source Type

Monograph

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Americas

This source names Americas directly: "Justin B."

Source Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North PacificJustin B. Stein

Japan

This source names Japan directly: "its origin with Usui Mikao in 1920s Japan through its transformation and spread across North America and the wider Pacific over the twentieth century."

Source Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North PacificJustin B. Stein

Claims Backed By This Source (80 claims)

This source backs 80 claims across the atlas. As facts: 53 well-attested. As cited relationships: 15 holds. Plus 12 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.