The usual chronology has Hawayo Takata acknowledging twenty-two Reiki masters between 1975 and her death in 1980, with the training and Master initiation varying between them. That number is one of the most frequently repeated facts in Reiki history, and it is broadly reliable: her students, the Reiki Alliance and the International Center for Reiki Training all use it. What is less reliable is the list of names.
No signed, complete roster has been published. The lists that circulate come from students' memories, class records, later organisational histories and books written after Takata's death. They agree on many names and disagree on several, especially where a master was known by different surnames or where a spelling was anglicised in different ways. Anyone who needs the list should treat it as a reconstructed record, not a certified register.
That caveat does not make the twenty-two unimportant. They are the generation that turned a small Hawaiian practice into a global movement. Their training, their disagreements and their decisions about fees, symbols and succession shaped most Western Reiki schools that followed.
Why twenty-two?
Takata did not begin initiating masters until late in life. She taught first and second degree for decades, but the master level remained closed until 1976. According to the chronology used by James Deacon and others, Virginia Samdahl was the first person Takata certified as a master, in 1976. Fran Brown, who later became a well-known teacher, was the first of the group to receive first degree, in 1973, but she was not the first master.
Once Takata began, the pace increased. She initiated a small group of senior students, family members and long-time practitioners, and she required them to charge a high fee for master training. The commonly cited figure is $10,000. In her teaching, the fee was not simply a price for a class; it was a statement about the value of the master level and a barrier to casual certification.
That policy had two effects. It kept the number of masters small during her lifetime, and it created a financial norm that later masters either defended or rejected. After her death, Iris Ishikuro, one of the twenty-two, began teaching for a much lower fee. Her student Arthur Robertson then trained many more masters, and the Western Reiki population expanded rapidly. The Usui/Tibetan lineage that later developed through Robertson's work is one result of that opening.
The list problem
A reconstructed twenty-two-name roster is printed in the International Center for Reiki Training's 2007 article on Takata and in the 2019 study by Beeler, Horowitz and Jonker. The Estate of Phyllis Lei Furumoto's Grey Book page prints a twenty-one-name "Master Students of Takata Sensei" list; its note says George Araki was omitted, and Paul Mitchell's linked essay explains why. The table below follows the twenty-two-name reconstruction, with the Grey Book variants noted.
| # | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Araki | In the ICRT and 2019 rosters; omitted from the Grey Book 21-name list |
| 2 | Dorothy Baba | — |
| 3 | Ursula Baylow | — |
| 4 | Rick Bockner | — |
| 5 | Patricia Bowling | Also published as Patricia Ewing in the 2019 study |
| 6 | Barbara Brown | Hosted the 1983 meeting where the Reiki Alliance was founded |
| 7 | Fran Brown | First of the group to receive first degree, in 1973 |
| 8 | Phyllis Furumoto | Takata's granddaughter; recognised as successor in 1982 |
| 9 | Beth Gray | Teacher and author |
| 10 | John Harvey Gray | Grey Book prints "John Gray"; ICRT gives the full name |
| 11 | Iris Ishikuro | Trained Arthur Robertson; later taught for lower fees |
| 12 | Harry Kuboi | — |
| 13 | Ethel Lombardi | — |
| 14 | Barbara McCullough | — |
| 15 | Mary McFadyen | Spelled McFadyen in the Grey Book and ICRT roster |
| 16 | Paul Mitchell | Later collaborated with Furumoto on the Nine Elements |
| 17 | Bethel Phaigh | Reported receiving second degree and master within days |
| 18 | Shinobu Saito | — |
| 19 | Virginia Samdahl | Usually described as the first master Takata certified, in 1976 |
| 20 | Wanja Twan | — |
| 21 | Barbara Weber Ray | Grey Book prints "Barbara Webber"; ICRT prints "Barbara Weber" |
| 22 | Kay Yamashita | Acknowledged in 1975 in the 2019 chronology |
The source conflict is concrete. The Grey Book list has twenty-one names because Araki is omitted; the ICRT roster and the 2019 study include him, making twenty-two. "Patricia Bowling" appears as "Patricia Ewing" in the 2019 study, and the Grey Book prints "John Gray" and "Barbara Webber" where the ICRT prints "John Harvey Gray" and "Barbara Weber." The order is not significant, and a dash means the cited lists supply no reliable detail beyond the name.
No signed roster has been published. The most defensible statement is that these are the names given in the two reconstructions, with the Grey Book's alternative list noted, and that no single archival document confirms every entry.
What the twenty-two received
Takata's master training was not a standardised course. She taught orally, without manuals, and she adapted her presentation to the student. Recurring elements in accounts of the training she gave were:
- The master symbol and its use in treatment and attunement.
- The attunement process for each level.
- The lineage story, told as an oral history.
- The precepts and the ethical responsibilities of a teacher.
- Permission to teach and to initiate others.
Beyond that, accounts differ. Some masters recalled a short, intense transmission; others described a longer apprenticeship. The 2019 study's distinction between training with and without Takata's Master initiation means these elements should not be read as a uniform syllabus received by all twenty-two. Bethel Phaigh reportedly received second degree and master within a few days. John Harvey Gray, one of Takata's most respected students, described her teaching as simplified for Western students and noted that she did not teach the Japanese techniques she had learned from Hayashi. That simplification is one reason the Japanese and Western branches of Reiki look so different today.
The training also included a commercial relationship. Masters were expected to charge the $10,000 fee, and Takata taught that doing otherwise would undermine the system. Whether that was a spiritual principle, a business decision or both is a matter of interpretation. It is documented as her teaching, not as a universal Reiki rule.
What happened after Takata died
Takata died on 11 December 1980. She had not left a public, unambiguous designation of a successor. Her granddaughter Phyllis Furumoto had been teaching with her and had begun initiating masters, which made her the most likely candidate in the eyes of many.
In 1982, masters initiated by Takata and by Furumoto met in Hawaii. The group recognised Furumoto as Takata's successor. They met again in 1983 at Barbara Brown's home in British Columbia and founded the Reiki Alliance. The Alliance later formalised the system as Usui Shiki Ryoho, with the Nine Elements and Four Aspects.
The succession was not universally accepted. Carol Farmer, a master initiated by Furumoto who attended both meetings, later wrote that Takata had not named a successor, that Furumoto had not received definitive instructions, and that the grandmaster title was a Western institutional creation. Her first-person account is one of the most detailed insider sources for the period.
The 1982 meeting also revealed something unexpected: the masters had been taught different versions of the symbols. Farmer recalled the group drawing the symbols together and being shocked at the variations. They agreed to standardise, which was the beginning of the Alliance's attempt to define a common form. That moment tells you a great deal about how oral transmission works. Takata had taught each master personally, and personal teaching produces variation.
The branches that grew from the twenty-two
The twenty-two did not remain a single group. Some taught within the Alliance framework; others went independent. The most consequential divergence came through Iris Ishikuro, who trained Arthur Robertson. Robertson had a background in Tibetan shamanism and developed Raku Kei, a system combining Usui Reiki with Tibetan-style symbols and the violet breath. William Lee Rand later combined Raku Kei with the Takata system to create Usui/Tibetan Reiki, which became one of the most widely taught Western systems before Rand retired its Tibetan elements in favour of Holy Fire Reiki in 2014.
Other masters and their students developed Karuna Reiki and a long list of modern schools. Some systems, such as Angelic Reiki and Seichim, have separate origin stories, while many Western lineages trace a line back to Takata and, through her, to Hayashi and Usui. The twenty-two are therefore not just a historical list; they are a major branching point of the modern Reiki family tree.
How to use the list responsibly
If you are researching your lineage, the list can help you place a teacher in the Takata generation. But a lineage chart is only as good as its records, and many charts simplify or omit names. Ask your teacher for their line and compare it with published accounts. Do not assume that a name on a list proves a particular training, date or authority.
If you are writing about Reiki history, distinguish between:
- The count, which is well attested.
- The names, which are reconstructed and variable.
- The training content, which is described in students' recollections and later histories.
- The succession, which is disputed and documented from multiple perspectives.
That four-part distinction is more useful than a single definitive list, because it reflects what the evidence can actually support.
Frequently asked questions
How many Reiki masters did Takata train?
Twenty-two, according to her students and the major Reiki organisations. The count is consistent across sources even where the names are not.
Who was Takata's first Reiki master?
Virginia Samdahl is usually named as the first, certified in 1976. Some accounts describe Fran Brown as the first of the twenty-two to receive first degree, which is a different milestone.
Why do the lists of names differ?
Takata taught orally and did not publish a roster. Students remembered names differently, some masters changed surnames, and later organisations reconstructed lists from different records. No signed master list is public.
Did all twenty-two teach Reiki?
Most did, but not all taught extensively. Some continued in their existing professions, some taught locally, and a few became major organisers or authors. The list records initiation, not output.
What happened to the $10,000 fee?
Some masters kept it; others, notably Iris Ishikuro, rejected it. The Reiki Alliance still lists $10,000 for its master level, while many independent teachers charge less. The fee is an organisational policy, not a Reiki law.
Is the list the same as a lineage?
No. A lineage is a chain of teacher-student initiations. The twenty-two are the masters Takata initiated, but their own students and successors form the continuing lineages. A name on the list is a starting point, not a complete line.
Related topic: History and traditions, Reiki in the West, Types of Reiki, Founder, origins and traditions, Reiki's development in Japan.