Mikao Usui was born in Japan in August of 1865.

Usui named his healing ability Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in Tokyo.  He established the Gokai, the 5 Principles, and the Reiki Training method.

It is believed that Mikao Usui taught over 2,000 students from 1922 to 1926.

Mikao Usui is generally considered the founder of Reiki.

For several decades the sole knowledge of Dr. Usui in the West came from the late Hawayo Takata who brought Reiki from Japan to Hawaii in the late 1930s.  For years the only story known in the West of Dr. Usui's life was the oral story told over and over by Mrs. Takata to her students.

For factual information about the life of Usui Mikao there is a Usui Mikao memorial stone at the Pure Land Buddhist Saihoji Temple in Tokyo.  The memorial stone was placed there by students of Usui Mikao just one year after his death in 1927.