The Nishino Method Headquarters The Nishino Method -Breathing Excericises-

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What is The Nishino Method?

Sokushin Breathing

~The Essence of the Nishino Method Breathing Exercises~

Sokushin Breathing is the essence of The Nishino Method in which you breathe in through the nose with an awareness of the soles of the feet (Sokushin) and exhales from the mouth while directing your breath downward to Sokushin.

By slightly changing the way you normally breathe, you can improve many things in your daily life.

When you are concentrating, when your body is under strain, or when you are in the middle of a workout, do you ever temporarily hold your breath?

It is said that the human body has tens of trillions of cells. To ensure that your body receives sufficient oxygen, unconscious breathing alone can cause the body to store up fatigue.

We, at the Headquarters of The Nishino Method - Breathing Exercises -, recommend that you incorporate practicing the unique Sokushin Breathing into your daily life. This is a transformational breathwork in that it is simple and easy that everyone can practice the method to consciously guide your breath to every corner of the body.

The Practice of The Nishino Method

■ Sokushin Breathing

Inhalation is through the soles of the feet (Sokushin) and, after energy has been circulated throughout the entire body, exhalation is, again, through the soles. In fact, you are breathing through the nose and exhale through the mouth, but if you do so with an awareness of Sokushin, you will feel your energy rising upward from the feet to the knees and the thighs to Tanden (lower abdomen).

Visualize a great tree sucking up water from the earth. Energy that reaches Tanden is steadily propelled upward along the spine. This energy in turn eventually reaches Hyakue (the top of the head).

At this point, lightly hold your breath, and then - still on the in-breath-guide the energy from Hyakue to Tanden frontally, along the central line. Finally, while exhaling, direct the energy downward through the soles of the feet into the earth.

Visit our official Instagram and YouTube Channel. In the videos, our senior instructors are demonstrating their Sokushin Breathing in the different styles

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■ Karin (Axis Rotation Exercise)

Karin is a preparation work for the Nishino deep breathing exercises. It loosens up the body and makes way for an ideal physical condition called “Chuyu” (literally meaning “playing in the universe”), thus enhancing the benefits of the breathing method.

Karin +

2⇔1⇔3 Stand with the entire body relaxed, feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Breathing out, gently swing to the left and right, rotating around the axis of the spine. Move from the Tanden or lower abdomen region. Let the arms, which are relaxed and loose, wrap around the body as a natural result of rotating the trunk.

4⇔1⇔5 Continuing to rotate left and right, let one arm wrap around the shoulder while the other arm wraps around your hip.

6⇔1⇔7 Maintain the same swinging motion. Turn your body to the left and the right, look at the heel of the farthest leg. Arms wrap naturally around your body. The swing to the right and then left is one set. Repeat each set about thirty times. Karin is practiced with normal inhaling and exhaling.

Visit our Official Instagram and YouTube Channel. In the videos, our senior instructors are demonstrating their Karin. Please note that you keep your body axis straight in order to keep a beautiful Karin rotation.

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■ Sokushin Breathing Basic

This is one of the very basic breathing exercises of the Nishino Method. It is done in a spirit of childlike innocence, plain unfettered under the sky. With practice, improved blood circulation, as well as enhanced energy and stamina are possible.

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1  Release all tension from the body and stand, knees relaxed, with the feet shoulder-width apart.

2-3  While exhaling from your mouth with your attention down toward the soles of the feet, slowly bring the upper body forward.

3-6  As you inhale from your nose, visualize your breath coming upward from the soles of your feet, gradually bring your arms forward and up. Lift both arms until they come above your head and bring the breath to Hyakue (the crown of your head).

7 Then hold the breath down to your Tanden (lower abdomen). Bring both arms down, extending them wide on either side at shoulder level.

8 Slowly lower your arms to your sides as you exhale from your mouth and return to the original starting position. If you repeat, continue to bring the upper body forward to the position of 3.

There are many other Sokushin breathing techniques. Visit our Official Instagram and YouTube Channel.

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■ The Application of Sokushin Breathing Exercises “Taiki” (Practice in Pairs)

Numerous methods have been developed for boosting the life energy. Most methods can be considered forms of asceticism. They involve abuse of the body, or enduring extreme environments and situations to concentrate and elevate energy levels. And there are also methods of mental training for attempting to raise energy levels.

The Nishino Method differs from these traditional approaches. The Method addresses the human body through invocation of inter-cellular energy communication. "Taiki" is a method based on implementing a smooth, efficient, circulating exchange of energy at the cellular level.

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An important point is that the inter-cellular energy communication occurs not only inside one's own body but even between one's own and others' bodies.

The Nishino Method of "Taiki" exercise itself is a method for effecting mutual communication of life energy without introducing adversity or hardship of any sort.

The Nishino Method of "Taiki" does not involve pain or suffering, instead, it teaches us to overcome adversity by cultivating our personal energy.

In our classroom at the Nishino Headquarters, we do about an hour of basic training in breathing followed by an hour of Taiki. It literally means exchange of ki energy. A student and an instructor work in pair to exchange ki by placing the backs of their hands together. Through the hands, one transmits the entire body’s ki to the other person.

Please note that practicing Taiki requires a lot of training based on Sokushin Breathing. Due to possible injuries, we recommend you practice Taiki under the supervision of certified instructors accredited by the Nishino Method Headquarters or its certified organizations.

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Scientific Viewpoints

The Nishino Breathing Methods is
the World of Sensing and Enjoying your “DeepBody”

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Toshihiro Nukiwa, M.D., Ph.D. / Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University

What is the Nishino Breathing Methods?

I have been practicing Nishino Breathing Methods (NBM) as a physician for over 30 years.As a physician, I am in the position of a professional regarding the body. From that standpoint, I must be able to explain the phenomenon of the NBM called "Taiki." To explain means to be able to use the "common language” of Western medicine. In the past I have said that I feel a "profoundly unknown body" or "Archetype" inside when I practice the NBM “Taiki”. I now know what it is.

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In the late 20th century, medicine began to understand molecular biology. Molecular biology is said to be the study of DNA, but it is actually the study of understanding the language of "Cells”. The language of the invisible cells needs to be translated into the medicine of the visible body. This is actually “Translational Medicine”.

Since the early 2020, Japan is suffering from the corona pandemic. However, I happened to notice that the TV program "Trunk Exercise" for supporting the people’s stay home under Corona disaster, is very similar to the NBM basic exercises. I searched the latest research on body trunk and discovered the principal mechanism of the NBM "Taiki" phenomenon. The trunk is the motor structure of the locomotion (the oldest one is the undulation of lamprey), which is an origin of the forward locomotion system in the evolution of vertebra. This neural mechanism is indeed the “DeepBody” inside (“Deep” means anatomical location as well as evolutional, some 500 million years). For more information, see the following URL: https://kokyurinsho.com/focus/e00095-3-1/).

This DeepBody is identified through the research in molecular biology of the spinal cord in the 21st century. How can we access this DeepBody? That is the Sokushinkokyu (Body awareness while breathing) and the Karin (Body rotation & reactivation while breathing), which are initially hard to understand immediately after starting the NBM practice. Then, in the practice of Taiki (Body trunk mutual signaling while breathing), we actually sense the mutual DeepBody and activate each other. Breathing is deeply linked to the trunk mechanism (i.e., Locomotion CPGs (central pattern generators)).

The NBM is truly “Translational medicine”

This DeepBody is used to be the world of Oriental martial arts. The great achievement of Master Kozo Nishino is that he has opened up this body work to the general public as breathing methods and has paved the way for everyone to actually feel, enjoy, and deepen the world of DeepBody. In this sense the NBM is “Translational Medicine” (“Translational” means from Oriental tradition into modern Western science. It is also from fundamental neural mechanism into breathing and energetic wild body)

As a doctor, I will make every effort in the rest of my life to spread this "DeepBody," which can now be understood in a common language, to medical practitioners around the world, so that the world's eight billion people can enjoy the DeepBody. The science of the unknown of DeepBody is still expanding (e.g., the partner's body reacts without touching).

Now things are getting interesting! Let's all enjoy DeepBody with NBM.

Biography: Toshihiro Nukiwa, M.D. Ph.D.. (Red letters: personal history in the NBM)

Born in 1947 in Tatsuno, Hyogo, Japan (Age, 75)

Education:

1967 - 1973 M.D., Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan

1974 - 1976 Graduate Course, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Chronology of Employment:

1976 - Residency of Internal Medicine, Tokyo University Hospital

1978 - Senior residency of Respiratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University

1981 - Lecturer, Respiratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University

1983 - Visiting Associate, Pulmonary Branch, NHLBI, NIH, USA

1988 - Associate Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University

(1989 - Joined the Nishino Breathing Method in Shibuya, Tokyo)

(1990 - Approved as a sub-instructor for Taiki training of the Nishino Breathing Method)

1993 - Professor, Respiratory Oncology and Molecular Medicine, IDAC, Tohoku University.

(1993 - Launched the NBM Sendai in the campus of Tohoku Univ, Department Medicine)

2007 - Professor, Respiratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University

2011 - Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University

2012 - Medical Commissioner, the South Miyagi Medical Center, Japan

2014 - Executive Director, Japan Anti-tuberculosis Association, Tokyo, Japan

(2017 - Certificate of International instructor of the basics of the Nishino Breathing Method by Master Kozo Nishino)

2017 - Director, the Elderly Care Institute, Sakura, Osaki, Japan

(2017 - 19; International NBM Instruction in Munich and Zurich, 3 times)

(2019 - Launched the NBM Sendai in the Kahoku-TBC culture center at the Sendai station)

Honors:

1992 - The Kumagai Award of the Japanese Respiratory Society

2007 - The Harasawa Memorial Award, Asian Pacific Society of Respirology

He is an honorary member of the Japan Respiratory Society (a former board chairman, Congress President of the 47th Academic Meeting), an honorary member of the Japan Society of Internal Medicine, an honorary member of the Japan Lung Cancer Society, 2013 Congress President of Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), a former associate member of Science Council of Japan, a member of the Committee of Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), and an Official International Senior Instructor of Nishino Breathing Methods.

Publications:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=nukiwa+t&sort=date

Series of Nukiwa’s Articles on Breathing in the Kokyu Rinsho (PDF)

Testimonials

The Nishino Method breathing school has a wide age range of trainees from elementary school students to 95 years old retirees across Japan and from other countries, and the trainees from various professional fields and walks of life continue enjoying their training for years. These are some of the striking written testimonials from our trainees.

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    Timur Ucmak, M.D., Ph.D.
    Lives in Zurich, Switzerland
    Nishino Breathing Methods Senior Instructor
    Operator, Taiki Swiss

    The Wondrous “Physical Now”

    The first time when I started to practice NBM (Nishino Breathing Methods) was 23 years ago. My father-in-law - he himself a long-term attendee of NBM Juku and a Tai Chi Chuan master - used to teach me the basic exercises. Back then I started to get a glimpse of how powerful those exercises were. After 20 minutes of Sokushin breathing and Karin I was totally relaxed and at the same time completely energized.

    Definitely I wanted to learn more: a couple years later I began to travel regularly to Tokyo to attend the NBM classes. As a young medical student my rational and scientific understanding was challenged in many ways, because what I saw and experienced at the Nishinojuku (Nishino School) was absolutely amazing.

    Just within one lesson (breathing, turning around ones axis and through Taiki) every attendee had an instant access to an invisible power - which was vitalizing the whole body and freed the mind of its overactive boundaries. These positive effects - so quick and so strong - were and still are truly the trademark of this wonderful method.

    There are not enough words to express my gratitude towards Nishino Sensei (Master Kozo Nishino). I believe he changed the lives of thousands and thousands of people. As a Nishino method student and as a medical doctor I can say: I am sure everybody who gets in touch with the Nishino Method will see its positive and powerful impact on one's mental and physical health. And not enough to mention it again and again: the NBM makes me happy. Thank you, Nishino Sensei and all the instructors who are diligently teaching this method.

    -After attending the Headquarters’ training in February 2023-

    I experienced the new way of teaching at the Nishino Headquarters: on the one hand the lessons are completely rooted on the well-known basics of the Nishino Breathing Methods developed by Nishino Sensei. And on the other hand - and that is outstanding - the instructions are much more in detail. In every single journey to Japan (approximately around 30 times until now) I was looking for that, finally it is accessible to everyone.

    And that makes the practice much more effective and joyful. Formerly it took a week to acclimate and to get the body into a deep relaxation. But at the Headquarters now I was able to get that intense sense from Day 1. There are so many new exercises of non-verbal communication (Taiki). I think that accelerates the experience immensely.

    At the Headquarters the lessons are not teacher- but “trainees-centered”. Whoever wants to learn can learn. The transparency of teaching is something that is not measurable in value. Normally, in most traditional practices, the teachers keep many things secret.

    Long story short: here the attendee can experience an open and generous way of transmission of knowledge which stands for: “There are no secrets!”. Every practitioner or seeker of “internal arts (any kind of exercise which deals with internal power or Ki)” will find a very high quality of teaching here.

    Also, there are so many teachings dealing with quieting the mind. If you are facing overthinking, come here straight to practice. See how easy and instant it is to get out of an overthinking mind and right into a physical reality - I would say: the wondrous “physical now”.

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    Zeev Golan
    President, Golan Architects
    President, Golan Consultants
    Lives in Kfar Yona, Israel with his wife Ronit

    My personal experience with the Nishino respiration method

    In 2015, my life took an incredible turn, after my encounter with Master Nishino, and with his help, I got to know the breathing method he developed. During the weeks I spent in Tokyo, I came to the institute every day and made sure to stay for a couple of classes every day.

    When I returned to Israel, I began to practice on my own what I learned in Japan. Without a doubt, the ability to disconnect thoughts from the daily unpleasantness flying around us, to isolate external sounds, listening to the body, the breath, directing and focusing the thought in the flow of energy from the earth to the body from the body back to the earth, helps me a lot to start another work day when my thoughts are clear, and the body feels lighter.

    Many people were interested in what I did in Japan, what method I speak of so much. I thought about it a lot and finally came up with a personal idea: the breathing method teaches me to use the body and its respiratory systems more properly and feel connected to the world that surrounds us.

    For a better understanding of the method, I made sure to purchase many books by Nishino. And although they are written in Japanese, I spend hours translating the pages and trying to better understand the wonderful method I learned.

Kozo Nishino

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Founder
The Nishino Method - Breathing Excercises

Notable Messages

“Being alive is all that matters”

There is only one absolute truth for human beings, and that is that they are alive right now.

Once you die, it does not matter what happens to the world or how history changes. In that sense, the importance of being alive now is more important than the world or the Earth.

In other words, it is because you are alive now that you are connected to the world and the world exists.

Needless to say, being alive is a biological phenomenon in which the body is alive. It is precisely because this body is alive that a higher forms of life such as human beings can have both a mental and a spiritual world.

For living creasures, to be alive is basically to live in the present moment improvisationally. In other words, no matter how rational and reasonable we may appear to be at first glance, we are forced to live in the moment and in a flexible manner.

This is evident in history. Not only in the primitive era, but also in the modern era, human beings have always been swept up in unforeseen circumstances throughout history, and have lived their lives according to the providence of nature, responding to each situation as it arises.

For those who live in such a reality, common sense brain knowlege (intelligence as knowledge) alone is not enough to make use of one's true self. Common sense knowledge often does not come through when faced with the actual situation of the flow of the world. In order to live to the fullest extent of our abilities, the latent intelligence of the body, which comes into play in times of crisis, is indispensable.

In the Nishino Method, such body ingelligence is called "Shintai-chi (Physical Intelligence)”.

“Putting your sleeping cells to work”

It is impossible to predict the future with our brain knowledge. However, we can predict the future to some extent by cultivating another kind of knowledge, what I call "Physical Intelligence.”

In fact, in 1985, I created the Nishino Breathing Method as a way to cultivate physical intelligence, and through its repeated practice, I discovered that as far as the body is concerned, “One is Everything and Everything is One."* and I have expressed this in my lectures and books.

This is by no means to say that I am special, but rather that anyone who practices the Nishino Breathing Method can feel this in their body.

For example, if you practice according to the Nishino Ryu curriculum and become able to circulate "Ki" throughout your body, your hands will become sensitive like sensors of your body. Then, before the hands even touch an object, they will be able to detect, grasp, and naturally respond to the object. It is as if the hand sees like the eye, or perceives, judges, and perceives the object like the brain. It is as if every cell in the body is responding to the environment and events with a certain "intelligence" as if it were an independent entity.

Of course, this assumption may reflect the fact that my medical school education provided me with a basic knowledge of cells and the body from early on.

However, as I practiced the breathing methods I created, I came to realize that the body is in fact an organic creation of some 60 trillion cells, in which "One is Everything and Everything is One”.

According to the medical information, half of the cells that make up the human body are "asleep”.

“Sleeping” means that they simply exist without performing any useful function for the functioning of the human body.

My hypothesis is that Nishino Method breathing exercises work not only on functioning cells, but also on cells that are asleep, thus enabling a new way of life that breaks the existing patterns of cells that have been working until now.

In the 21st century, a new way of human life is required. It seems to me that this cannot be achieved by simply acquiring new knowledge in the form of reading books or hearing from others. Knowledge acquired indirectly by reading books or listening to others does not mean that it has been acquired directly in the body. Only what we learned through our own body is the "knowledge" that can be utilized in the true sense of the word.

*From just one thing we can infer all other things.

Biography of Kozo Nishino

Kozo Nishino (1926 – 2021) was born in Osaka, Japan. While studying at the Osaka City University Faculty of Medicine, he was inspired by the great accomplishments of the famous ballet producer Sergei Diaghilev, and joined the Takarazuka Musical Dance Revue, soon becoming the resident ballet instructor and dance choreographer. In 1951, Nishino enrolled in the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School in New York.

After returning to Japan, he established the Nishino Ballet Troupe in 1954, and produced famous prima dancers. After embarking on a career that encompassed choreography as well as T.V. and stage productions, he created a string of a great hits by producing and directing many T.V. shows.

He learned Aikido from Kisshomaru Uesiba Doshu (son of the Aikido Founder) and trained in Kung Fu under Master Kenichi Sawai. He attained the highest rank "Shihan"(Master) in both Aikido and Kung Fu. Through his mastery of the sciences of life - "medicine", of the arts of the body - "ballet", and from his acquisition of advanced interactive senses - "martial arts", he originated and developed the way to cultivate life energy, The Nishino Breathing Method.

Publications
(Books in Foreign Languages only)

<b>THE BREATH OF LIFE</b> <br>
		<span>Nishino, Kozo. The Breath of Life, Using the Power of Ki for Maximum Vitality. Japan: Kodansha International Ltd., 1997 ISBN 4-7700-2022-8</span>

THE BREATH OF LIFE
Nishino, Kozo. The Breath of Life, Using the Power of Ki for Maximum Vitality. Japan: Kodansha International Ltd., 1997 ISBN 4-7700-2022-8

<b>LE SOUFFLE DE VIE</b><br>
		<span>Nishino, Kozo. Le Souffle de Vie, Utiliser le Pouroir du Ki. Paris, France: Guy Tredaniel Editeur, 1998 ISBN 2-84445-027-x</span>

LE SOUFFLE DE VIE
Nishino, Kozo. Le Souffle de Vie, Utiliser le Pouroir du Ki. Paris, France: Guy Tredaniel Editeur, 1998 ISBN 2-84445-027-x

<b>IL RESPIRO DELLA VITA</b><br>
		<span>Nishino, Kozo. Il Respiro Della Vita, La massima vitalita dalla forza del Ki, Esercizi di Respirazione facili, effieaci, completamente illustrati. Roma, Italy: Edizioni Mediterranee, Via Flaminia 1999 ISBN 88-272-1256-6</span>

IL RESPIRO DELLA VITA
Nishino, Kozo. Il Respiro Della Vita, La massima vitalita dalla forza del Ki, Esercizi di Respirazione facili, effieaci, completamente illustrati. Roma, Italy: Edizioni Mediterranee, Via Flaminia 1999 ISBN 88-272-1256-6

Certified Organizations

Sendai, Japan NBM.SENDAI

1-1-1, Sendai Terminal Building 5F

Chuo, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Twitter: NBM.Sendai (@NBMSendai)

Contact person: Toshihiro Nukiwa, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University

Email:toshinkw47@gmail.com

Sapporo, Japan HIBIKI SCHOOL

27-1-9, Hibikinomori Clinic 2F

2-Jyo, Minami, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi,

Hokkaido, Japan

Official website: https://hibikinomori.org/hibiki_school/

Contact person: Masashi Nishiya, M.D.,

Director, Hibikinomori Clinic

Email:hibikinomori.popolo@gmail.com

Geneva, Switzerland Headquarters of the United Nations in Europe

Palais des Nations,
Batiment E - Rez-de-chaussee, Porte A15 , Ascenseur 29 ,
Gym Room E.47 Taus les mercredis, de 17h a 18h
14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Genève, Suisse

Official website: https://kijaponais.ch/

Contact person: Hiroshi Nakajima

Zurich, Switzerland Taiki Swiss

Taiki Swiss
Eichstrasse 2, 8620 Wetzikon ZH
Zurich, Switzerland

Contact person: Timur Ucmak, M.D., Ph.D.

Email: tucmak@me.com

Please contact us if your organization is interested in joining the world network of the Nishino Method official certified organizations

Enrollment/Experience

Regular Class Schedule

MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
Class A - - 10:00 - 10:00 10:00 10:00
Class B 14:00 14:00 14:00 - 14:00 13:00 13:00
Class C 18:00 18:00 18:00 - 18:00 16:00 16:00

※Each lesson is two hours long.

※You can join any class at any time for the number of times you pay your training fee.

※There are no classes on 29th, 30th and 31st of every month with exception of January and August.

※On national holidays, the above schedule changes as follows:

MON, TUE

Class B ⇒ 13:00~

Class C ⇒ 16:00~

WED & FRI

Class A ⇒ 10:00~

Class B ⇒ 13:00~

Class C ⇒ 16:00~

⇒ Check the class schedule calendar of our official website due to possible schedule changes.

Monthly Membership Fees
(all tax included)

Membership Registration Fee
11,000 yen
Monthly Membership Fee

22,000 yen for 4 lessons

33,000 yen for 8 lessons

44,000 yen for 12 lessons

※ Additional fees will be charged for every 4 lessons.

※ If you add only one lesson, the additional fee is 5,500 yen.

※ Enrollment is for elementary school students and older. Elementary school children must be chaperoned by a member of the Headquarters

Visits/Trials

About free visits for observing a lesson

You can visit the Headquarters for observing a lesson. Not only can you feel the atmosphere of the facility with your skin, but the staff will explain in detail to eliminate your anxiety. If you are worried about joining, please feel free to visit us first. Visits for observing a class for the first 30 minutes are available free of charge.

About actual experience of a lesson

It is also possible to experience the 2-hour lesson (paid). Prices are 5,500 yen.

⇒ Reservations are necessary for your visits and trial lessons. Please contact us at info@nishinomethod.com for reservations.

Contact for Inquires or Reservations for Visits/Trials

Note:

Please wear comfortable clothing. You will practice barefoot in a matted room.

If you enroll immediately after your trial on the same day, 5,500 yen will be deducted from the monthly membership fee.

Intensive Private/Semi-Private Courses

Private/semi-private lessons with English-speaking senior instructors are available. There are Beginners and Intermediate Courses. Please contact the Headquarters for more information.

Instructor Training Course

Would you like to teach the Nishino Method – Breathing Exercises in your local area or in your country? We will train you to become a Certified Instructor of the Nishino Method. Please contact the Headquarters for more information. An organization operated by the Certified Instructor is eligible to join the network of the Certified Organizations of the Nishino Method Headquarters.

Access

アクセス方法イメージ図

3 minutes’ walk from JR Shibuya Station

2minutes’ walk from the B1 or B3 subway exits

1 minute walk from the 20B subway exit (elevator)