Michio Kushi

Michio Kushi (May 17, 1926 – December 28, 2014) was a Japanese educator and advocate of alternative cancer treatments who brought modern macrobiotics to the United States starting in the early 1950s. He traveled widely, giving lectures and seminars on the macrobiotic diet.

Background

After World War II, Kushi studied in Japan under macrobiotic educator George Ohsawa. He moved to America in 1949, and together with his wife, Aveline Kushi, founded Erewhon Natural Foods, the East West Journal, the East West Foundation, the Kushi Foundation, One Peaceful World, and the Kushi Institute. The couple wrote more than 70 books.

Kushi studied law and international relations at the University of Tokyo and later continued his education at Columbia University in New York City. Aveline died in 2001, and their daughter died in 1995. Kushi lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, and died of pancreatic cancer on December 28, 2014, at age 88.

In 1994, he received the Award of Excellence from the United Nations Society of Writers. In 1999, he was mentioned in the Congressional record for his work educating the public about the macrobiotic diet.

Achievements

That same year, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History opened a permanent collection in his name, the “Michio and Aveline Kushi Macrobiotics Collection,” housed in the Archives Center. The Kushi Institute, which the couple founded, was located in Becket, Massachusetts, through 2016, after originally operating in a converted factory building in Brookline Village, Massachusetts. On October 14, 2000, he and Aveline received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for their contributions to diet, health, and world peace.

Cancer

Kushi argued that conventional cancer treatments are “violent and artificial” and promoted his macrobiotic diet as a cancer treatment. No clinical evidence supports the diet’s effectiveness against cancer. The American Cancer Society requested documentation of his claims, but his reply contained no clinical data.

Nutritionists Elizabeth Whelan and Frederick J. Stare criticized his assertion that cancer is primarily caused by improper diet, thinking, and lifestyle, calling it unfounded. They noted that while Kushi’s books include case histories of patients whose cancer supposedly disappeared after following the diet, no statistics exist on the outcomes for all patients, and at least some died from their disease shortly afterward. Some reported remissions occurred in patients who were also receiving conventional medical treatment.