Japanese Reiki is much more intuitive and genuinely spiritual, in line with Japanese culture. Western Reiki has, in many of its forms, had some of the spiritual teachings removed and replaced with a mix of pseudo-spiritual and non-Japanese concepts. Japanese Reiki cannot be defined within a framework of one set of teachings, instead many forms of Reiki emerged from Mikao Usui's original system, particularly as students studied with Mikao Usui at different stages during his own development. Common to most of these disciplines though is the concept of developing the inner self over a lifetime rather than the Western concept of attempting to change the external environment for self-gain. The other main difference is that Japanese Reiki is used as a means of working on illnesses and illnesses directly, whereas Western Reiki is often used as a relaxation therapy or as a means of balancing the 'chakras'.