Kiyota, Masuaki (1962-)

Remarkable young Japanese psychic born April 30, 1962 who appears to have extraordinary talents in metal bending and nengraphy (psychic photography ). Kiyota rivals famed psychics Uri Geller and Matthew Manning in his unusual demonstrations. Kiyota was elaborately tested and filmed in the 1970s while producing his phenomena. In addition to an appearance on a Nippon Television program, Kiyota was also featured on the American program "Exploring the Unknown" (narrated by Burt Lancaster), presented on NBC October 30, 1977. Later in the decade, he was investigated by Walter Uphoff and his wife Mary Jo, who visited him in Japan.

Kiyota's reputation as a paranormal metal bender suffered considerably with his own admission that he had cheated on two occasions. In the course of a television demonstration in Tokyo on February 3, 1984, Kiyota was challenged by observers who accused him of cheating during the metal bending. Kiyota admitted that he had assisted his claimed psychic efforts by physical exertion with his hands. A month later, in the course of an interview on April 27, 1984, with a Mr. Kasahara and Soji Otani, Kiyota further admitted to cheating on one earlier occasion during a "metal-bending party" in 1983. Kiyota stated that he had used normal muscular effort to produce metal distortions. These admissions have cast doubt over other performances by Kiyota. It is possible that the great publicity given to his claimed metal bending abilities put him under pressure to supplement paranormal ability with fraud, as has been often claimed in the case of earlier psychics and Spiritualist mediums.

For a thoughtful discussion on the subject of Kiyota's cheating and its implications, see the correspondence from Ian Stevenson, Emily Williams Cook, Carolee A. Werner, Michael Dennis, H. H. J. Keil, and Peter Phillips, with an additional communication from Jules Eisenbud, in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (vol. 79, no. 2, April 1985).

(See also Japan )

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

Eisenbud, Jules. "Some Investigations of Claims of PK Effects on Metal: The Denver Experiments." Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 76 (1982).

Uphoff, Walter, and Mary Jo Uphoff. Mind Over Matter: Implications of Masuaki Kiyota's PK Feats with Metal and Film. Oregon, Wis.: New Frontiers Center, 1980. Reprint, UK: Colin Smythe, 1980.