Japanese REFLE VRT Diploma Course
REFLE School of Reflexology, JapanVRT and Synergistic Reflexology
Japan has very high standards of reflexology practice through dedicated schools of reflexology and the luxury reflexology clinics throughout Japan offer various types of reflexology to men, woman and children from all social classes. Lynne Booth has personally trained the VRT tutors in Tokyo. She was invited to teach Vertical Reflex Therapy (VRT) by the Japanese Reflexologist Education College known as REFLE which is owned by the large Hospitality Inc. company of Japan and led by principal Kazuko Sasai. As a practising reflexologist it is impressive to see the current status and respect for reflexology in Japan in the 21st century. It is the only country Lynne has visited where a reflexology school is situated in a five storey purpose-built building devoted solely to the training of reflexologists .
Lynne Booth with REFLE tutors in Tokyo January 2005
Japan does not yet have a national federation of reflexologists but national schools set their own, usually very high, standards. Japan is now represented on the board of the International Council Of Reflexologists by Mari Ogino, a Japanese reflexologist and translator of Lynne's book Vertical Reflexology. Mari trained in the USA and has attended reflexology conferences around the world and her knowledge of reflexology is far-reaching. Her familiarity with western and eastern forms of therapy will greatly help her work with the International CR at international level. Most reputable Japanese schools seek to have accredited courses run by international schools of reflexology such as the International Federation of Reflexologists (IFR) and the Japan Healing Relaxation Society (JHRS) as well as various courses ranging from 3 months to a year on subjects such as Vertical Reflex Therapy (VRT), Head massage and Medical Herbalist courses. As Lynne had conducted her Vertical Reflexology research in a large home for the elderly she was interested to see that reflexology schools encourage their students to offer volunteer treatments at hospices and homes for elderly people.
The REFLE school where Lynne taught has three dedicated reflexology schools in Japan in Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo. Once the students are fully qualified reflexologists they either set up in private practic
e or Refle have an exclusive salon which is situated in the spacious area of the men’s wear department at the Isetan, Tokyo flagship store. The luxury quality furnishing is exceptional with modern low leather couches in sage green leather . The décor is natural pine with smoked glass screens and classic Japanese prints and elegant plants. Courteous highly skilled therapists ensure that there are large numbers of clients throughout day. There are seven cubicles in the clinic I visited. Five are available for the following treatments: Mini for 25 minutes. Regular for 30 minutes, Standard for 40 minutes, Executive for 60 minutes and Royal 80 minutes. The latter two treatments are given in one of two separate luxurious rooms. Prices were comparable to London fees. It would be wonderful model of reflexology complementary care to reproduce this model in the UK provided a large company was prepared to put up the financial resources. There are many reflexologists in Japan (several thousand have been taught by REFLE alone) and 210 reflexologists work in Hospitality Inc’s 36 reflexology clinics that are situated throughout Japan in high-class department stores or shopping centre units. It is common practice for business people especially to seek out a reflexology treatment for stress, relaxation or for a specific health issue prior to work, at lunch time or before they leave the city for home. Japan is one of the leading exponents of reflexology and sets high standards among its highly trained therapists. To make contact with the REFLE school or find a VRT Diploma student in Japan please click here www.refle.co.jp
