Michio Kushi (久司 道夫, Kushi Michio) (May 17, 1926 – December 28, 2014) was a Japanese educator and alternative cancer treatment advocate who helped to introduce modern macrobiotics to the United States in the early 1950s. He lectured all over the world at conferences and seminars about the macrobiotic diet.
Background
After World War II, Kushi studied in Japan with macrobiotic educator George Ohsawa. After going to America in 1949, Michio Kushi and Aveline Kushi, his wife, founded Erewhon Natural Foods, the East West Journal, the East West Foundation, the Kushi Foundation, One Peaceful World, and the Kushi Institute. They wrote over 70 books.
Former Kushi Institute building at 17 Station Street in Brookline Village, in background, adjacent to Brookline, MA MBTA D-Train stopKushi Institute, Becket, Massachusetts, 1996Kushi Institute, Becket, Massachusetts, 1996
1999 Mentioned in the Congressional record in recognition of the dedication and hard work to educate the world about the benefits of a macrobiotic diet.
1999 The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History opened a permanent collection on macrobiotics and alternative health care in his name. The title of the collection is the "Michio and Aveline Kushi Macrobiotics Collection". It is located in the Archives Center.[citation needed]
Michio and his first wife Aveline were founders of The Kushi Institute, located in Becket, Massachusetts through 2016, but formerly in a converted factory building in Brookline Village, Massachusetts, adjacent to Mission Hill, Boston.
He and his first wife were awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for their "extraordinary contribution to diet, health, and world peace, and for serving as powerful examples of conscious living", on October 14, 2000.
Cancer
Kushi argued that conventional cancer treatments are "violent and artificial" and promoted his macrobiotic diet to treat cancer. There is no clinical evidence that the macrobiotic diet is effective to treat cancer. The American Cancer Society asked Kushi for documentation of his cancer claims. The reply contained no clinical data.
Two American nutritionists who have criticized Kushi's claim that a macrobiotic diet can cure cancer, Elizabeth Whelan and Frederick J. Stare , noted that:
Kushi's claim that cancer is largely due to his own versions of improper diet, thinking, and lifestyle is entirely without foundation. In his books, Kushi has recounted numerous case histories of persons whose cancer allegedly disappeared after following a macrobiotic diet. There are no available statistics on the outcome for all of these patients, but it is documented that at least some of them succumbed to their disease within a relatively short period. Reported testimonials of remission often uncovered the fact that the patients were also receiving conventional medical treatment at the same time.
Selected publications
1976: Introduction to Oriental Diagnosis. Red Moon Publications. ISBN9780906111000
1977: The Book of Macrobiotics. Japan Publications ISBN9780870403811
