Why study this intervention?
Approximately 5.0 N with small active movement
Force, contact area, anatomical site, movement and duration can each be specified. A participant-blinded crossover study has compared 4.9 N with a movement-matched 0.49 N procedure.
39 healthy adults: load and contact size
The published study found a lower post/pre muscle-hardness ratio at 4.9 and 7.4 N than at 2.5 N; 1–2 cm tips produced lower ratios than the 3 cm tip. These measured parameters provide a starting point for replication. Read the published study →
How do local and clinical responses relate?
Interlayer sliding, viscoelasticity, sensory input, circulation and symptoms offer complementary directions for biomechanics, physiology and clinical research.
Studies we would like to run with partners
Research direction
Replicating the local mechanical response
Standardise load and movement, and confirm the result at independent sites with independent assessors.
Testing mechanisms
Compare active movement alone, focal loading alone and their combination against a common time-matched reference condition. Relate muscle activity and sensory responses to the mechanical state of tissue, circulation and blood markers.
Clinical significance and durability
For each condition, prespecify the comparator, symptom and function outcomes, and follow-up.
Multicentre study in planning — invitation to participating sites. We are planning a study in chronic whiplash-associated disorder and invite interested clinical centres to discuss participation and feasibility. As outlined in our February 2026 conference presentation, the questions include the number of sessions required to reach a prespecified pain outcome and the durability of that response. We will develop the comparator, session schedule, assessment criteria and follow-up with participating sites. Read the pilot study → · Conference plan, slide 13 (PDF)
Protocol topics for participating sites: pain intensity (VAS or NRS) and neck-related disability (NDI) are candidate outcomes for chronic whiplash-associated disorder. The primary outcome, criteria for additional sessions, intervention period and follow-up schedule will be agreed with participating sites.
If your interest lies elsewhere — another tissue, another measurement, another patient group — we would still like to hear from you.
How we contribute
Our collaboration model combines research funding and intervention delivery with the partner institution’s expertise in measurement, analysis and interpretation.
Research funding
We can provide research funding through the Japan Health Organization. The scope, budget, eligible costs and responsibilities are agreed for each project.
Intervention by our Japanese team
We propose delivery by Takashi Sakato or Japan-based certified Kanshoho practitioners, while the partner institution leads measurement, analysis and interpretation. Partners can focus on scientific evaluation; learning the technique is not a prerequisite. We agree practitioner availability, study location and local requirements during protocol development.
Reproducible force and contact conditions
The published 2025 study documents a load-displaying applicator and interchangeable contact tips. These methods provide a reference for the study protocol. Equipment provision, calibration and adaptations are specified in each project agreement. Technique and measurement →
Published research materials
Our papers and conference slides are available through direct source links. For unpublished manuscripts, protocols or further analyses, please specify the material and research question in your enquiry. We will confirm availability and agree any confidentiality arrangements, subject to author approvals, participant consent, institutional rules and publication plans. Browse publications and presentations →
Our development history includes U.S. patent US 11,207,238 B2. For new collaborations, we propose agreements that protect research partners’ independence in study design, analysis, interpretation and publication. Partner institutions would lead analysis and manuscript preparation. Data access, authorship and any time-limited confidentiality review would be agreed at the outset while preserving researchers’ ability to publish the findings. The collaboration agreement would also define data ownership and the ownership and use of any newly generated intellectual property.
Principles for a collaborative study
For new collaborative studies, we propose the following commitments, agreed with the partner institution before the study begins.
- We specify the primary outcome, sample-size rationale and analysis plan, and register prospective interventional studies before enrolment.
- We document intervention and control procedures, including force, contact and movement, so that others can reproduce them.
- We separate intervention delivery from outcome assessment and analysis, and use blinded assessors where feasible. The partner institution leads outcome assessment, data management, statistical analysis and interpretation.
- We disclose competing interests, funding, loaned equipment and author roles.
- We report participant follow-up, safety records and study results regardless of the direction of the findings.
- We agree the scope of data and code sharing in line with participant consent and institutional rules.
- We agree arrangements that preserve researchers’ ability to analyse the data and publish findings independently, with the partner institution leading analysis and manuscript preparation.
Team, funding and competing interests
ICMJE recommendations on study-sponsor relationships and researcher independence
Investigators and study affiliations
Studies have been carried out and published or presented with investigators at the Department of Psychosomatic Internal Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences; the Department of Physical Therapy, Tokyo International University; the Department of Rehabilitation, Musashidai Hospital; and Shin Orthopaedic Rehabilitation & Sports Clinic. Affiliations are those at the time of each study. Roles by study
Start a research conversation
English-language enquiries are welcome. A short outline of your question is enough to begin. Please email Takashi Sakato, developer of Kanshoho, at the Japan Health Organization.
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Japan Health Organization · Research contact: Takashi Sakato
Suggested subject: Kanshoho research collaboration
| Helpful to include | For example |
|---|---|
| About you | Name, institution, field, reply address |
| Your question | Population, hypothesis, measurements you have in mind |
| What you would like from us | Delivery of the intervention, instruments, funding, study design, access to sources |
| Stage | Exploring / drafting a protocol; expected timeline and team, if known |
For the first enquiry, please use a study outline without identifying participant information. Funding, practical arrangements and any material sharing are agreed for each project.
Sources
- Study A (submitted manuscript): shear wave elastography of the lateral abdominal wall in 20 healthy men, randomised crossover pilot study. Trial registration UMIN000056162. This site reports only what is public in the registry and in our symposium abstract for the 28th World Congress of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine (ICPM 2026, Fukuoka). Full details will be added when the paper is published.
- Manuscript B (presented at conferences; unpublished manuscript): Sakato T, Shin Y, Itai Y, Amitani H. Immediate and mid-term effects of Kanshoho in patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders: a prospective single-arm pilot study. Presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for the Study of Chronic Pain and the 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pathophysiology (both 2026).
- Sakato T, Nakajima A. Rapid changes in blood metabolome induced by the low-pressure muscle relaxation technique “Kanshoho”: a randomized single-blind crossover trial. 34th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pathophysiology, 2025 (presentation slides, PDF, in Japanese)
- Sugimoto S, Sakato T, Nakayama T, et al. Effect of Kanshoho on lumbar muscle tone [in Japanese]. Journal of Physical Therapy Fundamentals. 2025;28(1):32–38. doi:10.24780/jjptf.JJPTF_2023-17
- Multicentre study plan: 55th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for the Study of Chronic Pain, 27 February 2026, slide 13. Conference slides (PDF, Japanese)
- ICMJE recommendations: author responsibilities and relationships with study sponsors . Reference for the proposed principles of independent analysis and publication.
Sections marked “Research direction” describe hypotheses and proposed studies for discussion with collaborators. Observations are presented with their participants, methods and sources.
Last updated: 22 September 2026