Reiki is challenging to research
One of the reasons that Reiki has historically been so difficult to research is because when World War II ended and the Japanese were required to surrender to the U.S. unconditionally, laws were enacted that banned all Eastern healing methods and required that only Western medical methods be practiced. And while some of the Japanese healing groups such as the acupuncturists were able to continue practicing by creating a government licensing system, the members of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. They decided that they did not want to go through the process of licensing. So in order to continue practicing, they decided to become a secret society. After that they would only practice at their private meetings and would not talk about Reiki to others outside their group. Because of this, Reiki disappeared from view and was more or less forgotten about by almost everyone outside the group of Gakkai members. Therefore, when people went to Japan and inquired about the system of Reiki started by Usui Sensei no one knew anything about it. Because of this, those who attempted to research Reiki in the ‘80s and early ‘90s were not successful.
Then in 1995, Toshitaka Mochizuki, a Japanese Reiki Master, wrote a book on Reiki that provided a few additional facts about the history such as an original version of the Usui Ideals. In 1997 Reiki Fire was published and it explained how the author, Arjava Petter and his wife Chetna Kobayashi had made contact with the then current president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai, Mrs. Kimiko Koyama. The information in the book included the location of Usui Sensei's grave, and photos and a translation of the inscription on the memorial stone. This was the first book that contained meaningful information about the history of Reiki that was verifiable. Now lets talk about Reiki Ryoho.