January/February 2005 Featured Stories
The Inspired Vision of Yuji Kato

by Miriam Knight

At the fall Body, Mind Spirit Expo in Portland, about a quarter of the area of the great hall was given over to an art exhibit and numerous booths manned by smiling Japanese - mostly non-English speaking Japanese, though there was a floating pool of translators available. Their booths ranged from exquisite silk paintings to Wasabi-flavored crispy soy snacks; from massage and health products to Tarot readings and even "channeled" haircuts! It was very exotic and a bit bemusing. Why were they here?

On the first evening, we presenters were all invited to a reception hosted by the Japanese contingent. I joined a group of Japanese at a table, and quickly exhausted my 5 words of Japanese and their 10 words of English. The conversation lapsed into smiles and nods until we nabbed one of the translators. It was like a log jam bursting open. We discovered a diverse group of high spirited and intensely spiritual people from very different backgrounds. What they had in common was being part of one of 43 heart-centered networks that have sprung up around Japan through the inspiration of Yuji Kato.

They pointed out to me a handsome laughing figure across the room who seemed to magnetise all eyes around him. Dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and black leather jacket, he looked more like a pop star than a spiritual mentor. The networks Yuji started are called Genki Kai. Genki means happy, healthy, in good spirits, and Kai is a gathering or meeting place. The name of the group means a gathering or network for feeling good/happy/healthy in yourself. Their hope is that by promoting inner harmony and prosperity for people everywhere, they can create the conditions for world peace. All those accompanying Yuji to the Expo paid their own way in order to be part of spreading the spirit of Genki Kai abroad.

I was most intrigued, and launched into my interview with Yuji Kato the following day with high expectations. As we communicated through an interpreter, I had to interpolate between the joy and the passion in his face and body language and the often too literal and meager translation. What emerged was an extraordinary composite of a successful businessman, gifted artist, powerful healer and channel, teacher and inspirer of thousands. How did it all come about?

About 18 years ago Yuji was at the top of his game in the sales & distribution business. Living the high life of Japanese corporate entertaining, he began to question WHY? Why was it necessary to spend a lot of money on lavish entertainment of customers to build the trust needed to do business? Why couldn't one build such trust just as human beings? Watching children from different cultures around the world, and how they became friends without demanding anything, he got the idea for the Genki Network.

He envisioned a community where people could come together freely and joyfully, like children. If they could rediscover their inner child and relax and share at that level, they could build relationships and break down barriers at every level - personal, national and international. In the context of Japanese society, it was an enormous challenge that Yuji threw out - make your heart naked and vulnerable; take off your armor; reach out and connect. Yuji was preaching a new kind of inner spirituality where you connect not with your higher self, but with your inner child; and from that place of innocence you can connect with the whole world.

His message for this time is personal responsibility. Don't seek God outside yourself or expect enlightenment from any guru or religious practice. Look deep inside, and before you ask God for something, make sure that you have tried very hard to do it yourself. The spirit of the Genki Network occupies the middle ground between faith and the evidence of the senses. The group focuses on the exercise of personal responsibility for the wellbeing of the individual and the world.

As I already mentioned, Yuji was a successful businessman when he was moved to start Genki Kai. He was the first person in Japan to integrate business and spirituality. His father was born in Seattle, while his mother was from the Samurai family of the Shogun Nagamasa Asai - an intriguing combination reflected in his personal emblem of Musashi Miyamoto, a Samurai brandishing two swords that represent the spiritual and secular warrior. His traditional roots came from his mother. His father taught him about the American Revolution and the American Dream, and from him he learned to challenge everything.

The turning point in his life was a mystical experience he had in which Maria (Mother Mary) appeared to him in a dream. "I am going to use your body and will ask you to do things," she said. "You cannot die until you do them." In the dream state he answered "Hai" so forcefully, he woke himself up. From the following day he found he could do Reiki, and dedicated his life to healing and the will of the divine.

He shared this experience with a group people attending a cooking class he ran for a small food company he owned. Drawing a picture of how Maria appeared in his dream, he found himself channeling and using words he had never learned. The spiritual messages just flowed out of him, as if he were reading out of a newspaper. People were so moved that they were crying, shaking, praying and would only leave if he promised another meeting. At the end of the next meeting, people spontaneously lined up for a healing. "I'm not a doctor!" Yuji protested, but the other Yuji - the one channeling spirit - said yes and as he touched people, they were healed.

Word quickly spread and Yuji started healing sessions in other cities like Tokyo and Osaka. He has given healing to tens of thousands of people, and the media have called him "Healer Superstar Yuji". His business grew too. Realizing that he couldn't handle everything himself he started training students in healing through the Genki Network. The people who accompanied him to Portland were all his students - each one becoming a healer/channeler.

Today Yuji is a highly sought after business consultant, advising companies how to merge the spiritual aspect into their businesses. He feels that his whole career and success in business were strategies of Maria to equip him to model and teach the integration of spirituality into workaday reality.

I asked Yuji where the art came in - his floral watercolor exhibit at the Expo was exquisite, and he has won awards throughout Japan for his "Healing Flowers of Love." Although trained in art, as a young man he decided to go into business because he was more interested in making money. About 12 years ago he started teaching art in the Genki Network, and only started painting again four and a half years ago. He also has classes in healing, communication between parents and children and success in business and in life. The ideas for the lectures and classes were channeled, as, he said, was this whole interview. In fact I watched in awe later as he created a beautiful flower painting, working at top speed with both hands simultaneously! Talk about channeling!

What, I asked, was his greatest concern for the world?

"The divisiveness of religions," he replied. "All the great religious teachers for the past 5,000 have taught peace. Why are there still wars? Religious wars are more cruel than any other kind; shouldn't the religious leaders get together to stop wars? If we can accept different tastes in food, why not different thought? Why do people feel they need to impose just their ideas? Universality, like air, can embrace all people without conflict."

Yuji pointed out that discrimination is a reality, in America as in Japan. His greatest hope is for people to discard prejudice. Let us connect with each other as innocent children do. That was the message of Jesus. Why don't we understand this simple idea?

Spreading this universalist philosophy has, in effect, become Yuji's life work. Now, he feels, is the time for globalization. He has come to America, the land of his father's birth, to ask for help. Over the years, Yuji has brought many spiritual teachers from America and around the world to Japan. He has built a network throughout Japan, and asks if Americans have the courage to join him. He is happy to share the philosophy and founding principles with anyone interested in starting a Genki Kai here.

After meeting his group of open-hearted, laughing Genki members, I really think they are on to something. Anyone want to play?

English language contact is Ken Reinke, 1-81-545-324-9818 or kreinke@pleiausa.com; www.pleia.com/top_e.htm