Because crystals are a New Age element, not a Japanese one. I love crystals and have them all over the house, but the system of Reiki is a Japanese practice from the early 1900s with five elements, the precepts, meditations like Hatsurei Ho, hands-on healing, symbols and mantras, and Reiju, and none of them traditionally involves crystals. If someone is using them, they are working from a Western, New Age perspective.

Anecdotally, yes; clients consistently report experiencing something. But I think it is really about understanding how connected we already are. Walk into a room and you can feel whether someone has just had an argument. Parts of us connect at a level we do not understand. There is a Japanese Buddhist idea of a circle of awareness, and when I consciously bring someone into mine, we connect energetically. I sit in that space, open, and practise.