Our Story
An interest in holistic health
Dr Caleb Mortensen has always been fascinated by eastern healing arts. This led him to completing a Bachelor of Health Science in Chinese Medicine (Hons) at Victoria University.
Through his studies, Caleb found a passion for acupuncture and started attending workshops to meet masters of the practice.
The chance encounter
Mortensen had just finished university when fate led him to acupuncture master Katsuhiko Okuma Sensei.
“I ran into Katsuhiko Okuma on the street, we recognised each other from a workshop years earlier and started talking. Truth be told, I think he was impressed that I could pronounce his name so easily and invited me to come visit his clinic.”
Dr Mortensen was already qualified and practising, but an internship with Katsuhiko Okuma would teach him more than he could ever learn at university, and so began a decade-long relationship as master and student.
Sensei and apprentice
Okuma trained Mortensen in the delicate art of Japanese acupuncture, encouraging the young apprentice to open his own clinic. Which he did!
This is how Kotan Acupuncture was born- Kotan meaning ‘elegant simplicity’, reflective of the style taught by Okuma. The pair worked together closely for a decade before Okuma returned to Japan.
A new home in Brunswick East.
In 2019 Dr Caleb Mortensen moved Kotan Acupuncture to the light-filled space in Brunswick east.
Though Dr Mortensen’s apprenticeship has long passed, he continues to learn from the masters, regularly travelling to Japan to meet with Ikeda Masakasu and Edward Obeidy.