BACKGROUND: In integrative oncology, it has been suggested that massage can activate the immune function, and alleviate pain and anxiety. However, the level of evidence regarding the effectiveness of massage therapy is not high; our study aims to provide such evidence. One of the basic concepts of the WHO Definition of Palliative Care (2002) is to increase the quality of life (QOL) by relieving suffering, regardless of the stage of cancer. Therefore, investigating and reporting the relaxation effect of massage, aimed at providing palliative care, is a pressing need at present. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to verify the changes in autonomic nervous activity and emotions resulting from the application of our hand-massage method (HM) to a patient in need of palliative care, as well as to clarify the physiological and psychological effects of HM. METHODS: The participants included 1 female and 5 male patients, who received palliative care for pain. Five of them had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, of whom 4 had achieved good blood pressure control with medicine. Our HM was a modified version of Tatsumura’s pair-hands-healing method, consisting of a 15-min HM session (7.5 min per hand, HM1 and HM2), both preceded and followed by a 15-min rest period, while the patient lay in a supine position. The effect on the autonomic nervous system activity was evaluated by measuring the heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), and nasal skin thermogram. Additionally, relaxation and anxiety were evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS). Data were analyzed using the paired t-test. RESULTS: The major findings of this study are as follows: (1) the HR trendy decreased during HM (vs. HM1 p=0.050, vs. HM2 p=0.058); (2) nasal skin temperature significantly increased after HM (p=0.027); (3) SBP significantly decreased after HM (p=0.034); (4) relaxation levels significantly increased after HM (p=0.031); (5) anxiety levels significantly decreased after HM (p=0.002). The frequency analysis of HRV (high frequency HF; parasympathetic nervous system activity, ratio of low frequency to high frequency LF/HF; sympathetic nervous system activity) did not reveal any significant effect of HM. CONCLUSION: The decrease in HR and SBP, and the increase in nasal skin temperature reveal the physiological relaxation effect of HM. The decrease in relaxation and anxiety show that physiological and psychological responses exist in parallel. Therefore, we believe that HM would be effective in inducing a physiological and psychological relaxation effect in a patient in need of palliative care. The frequency analysis of HRV revealed that HM does not increase autonomic nervous system activity significantly, and hence, is safe for patients with cardiovascular disease.