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His father, the pioneer of acupuncture in Argentina (Spanish)

(Spanish) My father was a masseur, a specialist in kinesiología. He who introduced acupuncture in Argentina; many Argentines were unfamiliar with it. Among the nihonjin, or Japanese, he was already doing hari (acupuncture). This is called hari in nihongo (Japanese language). My father practiced harikyu (acupuncture and moxibustion). The needles are made of platinum, and it was prohibited to import them from Japan (Nihón) to here. Do you know how he brought it? In the old days he brought open rolls of old Japanese newspapers, tied like this and nothing more, but the needles were placed inside the newspaper, and that is how he obtained them. I tell you that he was a pioneer of acupuncture in the Argentine Republic, and he also practiced okyu (moxa cautery).


acupuncture health

Date: September 18, 2006

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama

Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

Interviewee Bio

Luis Yamada is a Nisei born in Buenos Aires in 1929. His parents were immigrants who came from the Fukui province. As a little boy he traveled to Japan where he lived during World War II; afterwards he returned to Argentina. He was able to see Japan before, during, and after the war. Today he is the director of the Instituto Argentino de Paisajismo (Argentine Institute of Landscape Painting), one of the most prestigious institutes of its kind in Argentina. (September 18, 2006)