Everything is Structure

Shudo Denmei, beloved teacher and a pillar of our NAJOM community, left this world February 5, 2026. He was nearly 94, and even in his final months in hospital, lived according to his motto “Forget Self, Serve Others.” As Stephen Brown writes, we have been blessed by his example.
 

We are dedicating our next issue (No 97, July 2026) to Shudo Sensei with the aspiration to cultivate in ourselves his generosity and lifelong commitment to skilful practice. NAJOM 97’s theme will have two options: 1) Lessons Shudo Sensei taught me: share personal anecdotes and hard lessons about attitude and world view, but also work-a-day methods, approaches, or tips that might benefit your fellow readers, and 2) As a leading figure in modern Japanese Meridian Therapy, Shudo Sensei strongly emphasized the five elements and principles outlined in the Nan Jing Chapter 69 (Classic of Difficult Issues). How have you found Chapter 69 useful in actual acupuncture and moxibustion treatment?

For this issue, we asked you to explore another principle embedded in our classical teachings: “to treat structure is to treat the
organs” – what Peter Eckman points to as “visceral manifestation theory,” discussed in Chapter 9 of the Su Wen.
Structure, in the context of the human body, often brings to mind images of the human skeleton, bones, and muscles (the relatively more outside of us, as compared to the more inside of us, the organs). “Treating structure” can often equate in bodywork to “treatment of the musculoskeletal system.” And this is where Peter Eckman and Bob Quinn start us: acknowledging the importance of modalities in traditional Eastern medicine, such as sotai and structural acupuncture, that could be said to focus on balancing the musculoskeletal system but seem to have benefits that penetrate beyond that – to the emotions, organ functions, and so on. Where Quinn and Eckman ultimately guide us, along with a large contingent of fellow experts, is deep into a fascinating “universe of structures” in which the human musculoskeletal system is only a very small part.

They see everything – from the gravitational field around us, to our not-so-thin skin and the acupoints that reside there, to the rivers of fascia (and meridians) that wind around our bones, organs, vessels, and nerves, to microscopic proteins and even the tiny spaces between them – as structures or “structure.”
 

Defining structure is essential to our inquiry into the treatment of structure as a means of treating the organs. But the deeper
question engaged by our contributors is: What is the mechanism by which any tweaking of, or contact with, this structure from the “outside” of our body affects the structures on the “inside”?
 

As Takahashi Daiki puts it simply, “both the body surface (skin) and the internal organs are viewed as being “qi.” In Shakuju Therapy, very much grounded in the Nan Jing, he says: “We hold that the difference [between various structures] lies in the 'density of qi'. In the language of Western science, Faruk Sahin explains that: “The only difference between particles of energy and matter is the speed at which they move.” Eastern medicine has spent the last two millennia exploring our porous nature, making maps of the “denser places” to facilitate our precision in treating “the organs.”

This issue sees an exciting merger of Eastern and Western maps. Oran Kivity shares with us the first chapter of a new book
exploring Dr Yoshio Manaka’s research into extra meridians, embryology, and structure. Fujikawa Naotaka clarifies the development of auricular acupuncture. Lauren Haythe cites molecular engineer Denda Mitsuhiro, whose research suggests the skin [where most of our treatment occurs] is a structure far more complex than the brain. Mizutani Junji, in the course of processing a whopping 120,000 words in both Japanese and English for this issue, has observed that several writers, including himself, have highlighted the autonomic nervous system as a key systemic-structural entity. As he explains: “The flow of qi in classical texts likely encompasses this as well. Since the nervous system, immune system, endocrine system, psyche, and digestive processes were unobservable when the Nei Jing was being compiled, they were all likely categorized as qi.” “It is necessary not only to understand qi as such, but to interpret it in terms of modern knowledge.”

This hefty issue should occupy you for a while, but remember, our back issues contain more gems, including a three-part series with the aforementioned “skin scientist” Dr Denda. Find them in your own files (NAJOM #45, 46, 48, 2009-10). NAJOM members can also obtain articles previously published in issues for which membership fees have been paid. Go to the “Article Index” on our website (najom.org) and use the contact form to make your request. This benefit, exclusively for members, will be handled as time permits. Better yet, order a pdf of every NAJOM issue from 1-95 for a very reasonable price.

In gratitude to our teachers,
Cheryl Coull, editor