Denis J. Binks
In 1975, originally from England, joined forces with Master Tokujiro Namikoshi to bring shiatsu to Europe, opening the Nippon Dutch Shiatsu School in Baarn, The Netherlands, where it developed into the world-renowned institute that it is today.
In 2004 I was graduated from this school and then went on to further studies with Master Norio Yonezu, one of Master Namikoshi’s first students, as well as from Takashi Namikoshi, the grandson of Tokujiro. For these honors I am eternally humble and grateful.
Denis Binks receives the Lucky Cat from Tokujiro Namikoshi and I was so lucky to receive this Lucky Cat in 2008, from Sylvia Stapert, the widow of Denis
Master Tokujiro Namikoshi
It is through the work of the Japanese master, Tokujiro Namikoshi, born 3 November 1905 in Kagawa on the island of Shikoku, that knowledge of shiatsu spread to the West. When he was seven, the family Namikoshi moved north to Hokkaido Province, where his mother’s multiple arthritis was severely aggravated by the much-colder climate Intuitively, young Tokujiro eased his mother’s pains by pressing and rubbing her body, eventually curing her completely by his treatments.
After a long series of studies and not a few obstacles, Tokujiro Namikoshi opened the Shiatsu Institute for Therapy in 1925. In 1933 he turned over management of the institute to his students and opened a second one in Tokyo. His tireless dedication and devotion resulted in the foundation of the Japanese Shiatsu Institute in 1940, an establishment protected by national law.
