In the 70’s Shizuto Masunaga Sensei, creator of Keiraku shiatsu (meridian shiatsu), delivered fourweek correspondence courses providing students with his own purpose‐written material. We saw these course books during a visit to the Iokai Shiatsu Centre in Tokyo and given their valuable content decided to translate and publish them. Other than their historical interest, we believe the four volumes (this is the first) will be extremely helpful to shiatsu students, practitioners and teachers alike. The extensive topics covered in the four manuals range from the history of shiatsu, the Japanese legislature on the subject, how to execute pressure and the rules to follow, basic techniques, exercises for health, shiatsu as first aid, clinical shiatsu, shiatsu for children and aesthetics.