shiatsu

Where does the word "shiatsu" come from? It comes from Japanese shi + atsu, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).

Shiatsu’s story begins in Japanese: shi + atsu meant “finger pressure.” Combining "shi" (finger) and "atsu" (pressure). It reached English by 1900s as shiatsu. Japanese 'finger pressure'; Tokujiro Namikoshi founded a shiatsu school in 1940. Today, shiatsu means a Japanese therapeutic technique using finger pressure on the body.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · 1900s shi + atsu "finger pressure", combining "shi" (finger) and "atsu" (pressure).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1900s shiatsu "a therapeutic technique using finger pressure", Japanese 'finger pressure'; Tokujiro Namikoshi founded a shiatsu school in 1940.