Jonathan Twidwell

• Kaneohe, Hawaii

• Specializes in shiatsu, follows a kaizen philosophy

• Owner, Shiatsu Guy: shiatsuguy.com

Massage & Bodywork: Why do they call you the Shiatsu Guy?

Jonathan Twidwell:  The name Shiatsu Guy came to me when I was joking around. The Japanese word for pain is “itai.” I would say, “If you’re itai, call Shiatsu Guy.” Plus, the last four digits of my phone number spell “i-t-a-i,” so the name stuck. You can find me on the windward side of the island of Oahu, in Kaneohe. I love it here—it’s very centering. I have practiced in Kaneohe for about 24 years.

M&B: What drew you to shiatsu?

JT: Shiatsu was a natural choice. Growing up in Hilo, which had a lot of American-born Japanese people, and being half-Japanese myself, it just happened. I grew up in the 1950s and ’60s with many other Japanese-Americans; after my American schooling during the day, I would attend Japanese school, and then I began taking shorinji kempo (a type of martial art). I later embraced aikido, where I was introduced to the principles of ki and kiatsu, and that was my introduction to pressure-point therapy. Back then in Hilo, no shop offered shiatsu.

I went to college and mostly forgot about it. I developed an interest in radio and was a radio announcer for 28 years. But the radio industry started to change, DJs were getting fired, and I saw the writing on the wall. The only other skill I had at the time was kiatsu, but it wasn’t in my paradigm.

I met a massage therapist, Victor Kosaka, and after talking to him about helping people with their pain through bodywork, I became interested in getting licensed. I did my licensing through an apprenticeship under Mark Kauwe (founder of Shiatsu by Mark in Kaneohe). While working for Mark, I attended Aisen Shiatsu School. After about five years, I went out on my own. 

M&B: Your website mentions you follow a kaizen philosophy. What is this and how does it apply to your practice? 

JT: Kaizen means “always improving.” I’m not happy standing still. This art is always growing and going back to its roots at the same time. If there are no good roots, the growth will stop. It’s not that any style of massage is better; each style is as individual as the individual doing the work.

Right now, I’m 71, and as long as my health holds out, I’ll keep working. I don’t see shiatsu or what I do as work. It’s such a part of me that it’s just what I do, and I love doing it. It’s the joy of helping people. Doing this art of shiatsu is an opportunity to meet and relate to people on a different level. It’s constructive and supportive and helps bring modern society back to the very basics of being human. That is caring.