TOKYO, SEPT 11 – A Japanese acupuncture clinic has gone viral due to the large number of needles that are inserted into patients to help heal them from physical and spiritual ailments.
Acupuncture has indeed been around for thousands of years, but practitioners often develop their own techniques to stand out from their competitors.
According to reports Oddity Centralone example of a practitioner with his own technique is a Shirakawa acupuncture clinic in Tokyo, Japan.
Shirakawa’s acupuncture technique uses a large number of needles to be inserted into various parts of the body including the face to relieve patients from various types of ailments including from muscle spasms to avoiding bad luck and even possession by evil spirits.
The clinic also reportedly charges up to 200,000 yen (US$1,400) per session and is very popular among Japanese celebrities and athletes.
Last month, an actor named Masataka Kubota shared a photo of himself undergoing acupuncture at the clinic, with needles covering most of his face and chest.
The photos were flagged by Instagram as sensitive content, but the actress praised the service and said her experience was ‘exhilarating’, adding that it also really tested her.
Kubota’s post went viral, but he’s not the first celebrity to post about Shirakawa’s acupuncture technique, also known as root acupuncture. A month before, Japanese table tennis player Ai Fukuhara had also shared his experience but he did not want to post a photo of his face for the reason of not wanting to scare anyone.
Some of Shirakawa’s other famous clients include actress Mami Kumagai, singer Hiromi Go and gymnast Ryusei Nishioka.
“Most of the people who receive my treatment are unable to hold back and end up crying. This is a manifestation of soul purification. This is also a cry of detoxifying tears,” said Yusaku Shirakawa, the clinic’s founder.
Newspaper SCMP reported that Shirakawa acupuncture techniques are said to help not only relieve physical ailments such as chronic pain and muscle spasms, but also address patients’ spiritual issues such as helping patients make better decisions, improve their fortunes and purify their souls.
If you are wondering, does Shirakawa’s acupuncture technique like that hurt? That’s hard to answer. However, the clinic’s official website states that the procedure involves a number of sharp metal needles, so ‘some pain is bound to occur’.
Although Shirakawa is now the most famous practitioner of the root acupuncture technique, he is not the only practitioner out there.
A simple search on Google reveals that there are approximately 500 root acupuncture practitioners in Japan. Although that number sounds like a lot, when compared to the more than 120,000 regular acupuncturists in Japan, their services are actually quite rare. – Agency
Among clients being treated using root acupuncture. – Oddity Central
