Advertorial: NAGSAKI WELLNESS

TEXT: Abbie Philpott

IMAGES: Nagasaki Wellness

Have you ever wanted to try Reiki healing, Shiatsu massage, or Kampo?

Now you can with the help of Nagasaki Wellness, founded in 2019 by Dr Yoko as a Wellness tourism group that hopes to encourage more tourists to take advantage of the many health and beauty services offered in Nagasaki city.

I got to chat with Dr Yoko, the director, who is also a qualified nurse and medical researcher. She very enthusiastically explained that while working in palliative care, in both Japan and Australia, she discovered that looking after a patient’s psychological, social, and spiritual needs was just as vital to a patient’s overall health, as looking after their physical needs. She wants more people to be able to access other types of care, in addition to usual medical care to fulfil all their wellness needs.

REIKI HEALING

Dr Yoko’s specialty is Reiki healing (靈氣), a type of energy healing developed in Kyoto, Japan by Mikao Usui in 1922. She first explained what to expect, then asked me a couple of questions so that she knew what areas to focus on. After letting me choose aroma oils and making sure I was comfortable, Dr Yoko got to work. She used her hands to help energy flow around my body, corrected any imbalances, and removed blockage. The Reiki healing treatment was very relaxing and was followed by an hour-long massage. There are three options; a whole-body Swedish or dry massage, both include a Reflexology massage with aroma oils, and a soft lymphatic drainage massage.

SHIATSU

Next, I got to experience a Shiatsu massage by Naoko Katayama, a chiropractor specializing in sports chiropractic and Shiatsu massage. Shiatsu (指圧), which means “finger pressure,” originated from traditional Chinese medicine and has since developed in Japan starting from the 14th century. Naoko-san’s treatments are very popular and her clientele includes V-Varen soccer players and foreign representatives.

Naoko-san used massage, assisted stretching, and joint mobilization to relax and realign my body. The Shiatsu was gentle, yet effective. After Naoko-san had finished one arm and shoulder, I could immediately feel the difference. The treated arm felt a lot lighter and more flexible than my other arm. After my Shiatsu massage, Naoko-san then gave me a unique Japanese foot massage, called Ashi Tsubo.

KAMPO CUISINE

Feeling fully relaxed and limber I then walked a short 10 minutes to KINKAN Kenkokan café, a Kampo pharmacy and café in one, where I would experience one more service offered by Nagasaki Wellness; sampling Kampo cuisine. Kampo is a type of herbal medicine developed in Japan 1500 years ago from traditional Chinese medicine. The café is owned by Dr Yamashita, a pharmacology researcher and Kampo pharmacist who has worked for Nagasaki University for over 20 years.

Dr Yamashita marries her medical knowledge with Kampo principles to offer complementary medicine through food. She gave a simple and clear explanation of Kampo and then quickly started on her evaluation of my potential needs. She recommended which food and supplements would help me and which to avoid. After my consultation, Dr Yamashita then made a delicious lunch based on Kampo principles. She brought out a beautiful arrangement of local and organic seasonal ingredients that had been tailored to my personal needs. I ate delicious brown rice porridge, pickled vegetables, slowly simmered kabocha, and biwa tea jelly, washed down with homemade raw amazake. Everything was yummy and I enjoyed it guilt-free knowing it was good for me.

I really enjoyed my experiences with Nagasaki Wellness. They were deeply relaxing, fun, and I learned a lot of new things about Japan and complementary medicine. Dr Yoko is passionate about creating a people-conscious service, so she carries out vigorous checks on the service providers wishing to join her group, including basic English ability. It instantly put me at ease to see how knowledgeable the therapists are, and they were always willing to answer my queries. As well as the services described above, Nagasaki Wellness also offers others, such as sho- chu tasting and tour packages for those with medical needs.