Alice Whieldon

Akinobu Kishi was an internationally renowned teacher and master of Zen Shiatsu. He developed his own method of bodywork, Seiki Soho, after studying extensively in the fields of Shiatsu, Haruchika Noguchi's Seitai and bio-energetics until, coming up against the limits of Shiatsu, he experienced a profound change in consciousness, out of which Seiki Soho emerged. Born in 1949 in the Gunma region of Japan, Kishi was originally taught by his father, an accomplished judo master, who introduced him to manual therapy when he was just 9 years old. His formal training took place at Tokujiro Namikoshi's Japan Shiatsu College and at the Iokai Centre in Tokyo with Shizuto Masunaga, the father of Zen Shiatsu. Kishi assisted Masunaga for 10 years, and is widely regarded as the heir to his work. Alice Whieldon is a shiatsu practitioner and teacher as well as a tutor and senior manager with the Open University in London. She began her training in 1991, met Akinobu Kishi in 1998, and worked closely with him until his death in 2012.