Hawayo Takata, Japanese-American teacher and master practitioner of Reiki (d. 1980)
Hawayo Hiromi Takata (December 24, 1900 – December 11, 1980), a Japanese-American woman born in Hanamaulu, Territory of Hawaii, who helped introduce the spiritual practice of Reiki to the Western World.Takata was trained in Reiki by Chujiro Hayashi in Tokyo, Japan and became a Master Practitioner by 1940. Her teacher, Hayashi, he had learned from Mikao Usui, the first teacher of Reiki, in the early 1900s. Identification of training lineage is common among Reiki practitioners. Within the tradition, she is sometimes known as Reiki Grand Master Teacher Hawayo Takata.

Hawayo Takata, 79, of Keosauqua, died at 2.45 a.m. Thursday, Dec, 11, 1980, at Van Buren County Memorial Hospital, in Keosauqua, Iowa.