Masaru Emoto is best known for his work with water molecules and his claims that energy from thoughts, words, actions, etc. can manipulate the structure of water molecules.  He conducted his studies by taking a water sample, freezing it (usually overnight) and exposing it to some sort of energetic factor such as a piece of paper with a word written on it or a specific selection of music.  As he and his team allowed the water to unfreeze, they would take pictures of the water molecules.  According to Emoto, the energy directed at water by humans clearly manipulates the structure of the molecules. 

     Masaru Emoto was born July 22 1943.  He studiedInternational Relations at the Yokama Municipal University and in 1986 he established the I.H.M. (International Hado Membership) Corporation in Tokyo.  In 1992 he received certification as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine from the Open International University.  Around this time, he began his studies in water although he did not immediately focus on crystals.  Even when his research turned primarily to water crystals, it took awhile before he was able to successfully photograph the crystals.

Below are some examples of his photographs:

The bottom-right image labeled "Love and Appreciation" (or in some sources "Love and Gratitude") has been cited by Emoto as being the most complete and beautiful crystal in his opinion.

And more images...

The first part of the clip is from the controversial film What the Bleep Do We Know?.  The second portion shows work done by Emoto at a meditation retreat.

     The findings of Mr. Emoto's research led him to consider its relevance to human life.  Humans on average are made up of 70% of water.  Based on Emoto's work showing how positive and negative energy/thoughts/words have varying effects on water crystals, he concluded that similar effects from postive and negative stimuli could take place in a human body.  Various factors are used during his testing including the source of the water, the type of word written on the water, the language it is written in, music played, and use of meditation.

     As mentioned before, Emoto believes the "love and gratitude" water produced the most beautiful and complete crystals.  Love and gratitude are his solutions to world problems and what he urges everyone to embrace.  From his book The Hidden Messages of Water written in 2001 he claims "[w]ater teaches in a very clear way how we must live our lives.  The story of water reaches from every individual cell to encompass the entire cosmos." (xxviii)

     His ideas about human existence and water also in some ways express the outsider notion in a society.  In Chapter One of The Hidden Messages of Water he writes "[t]he individual and society make up one enormous ocean; by adding our individual drops to this ocean, we participate in the formation of society." (pg 1) Although we are all individuals, we are still part of the collective society through our shared experiences and commonalities, and as humans as a group we are still part of the larger universe in part due to the "bloodline" that is water. 

     Below is a videoclip of another experiment conducted by Emoto with the same idea except using rice that is either submerged in water or has been boiled before being sealed in a container.  The different containers are exposed to different words for a certain period of time and the quality and condition of the rice is observed. 

     There are various videos on YouTube of people who have tried the rice experiment at home and had similar results to Emoto as well as several videos criticizing his research methods and ideas in general.

     Not surprisingly Masaru Emoto and his work have quite a number of skeptics.  Below is a link to one such skeptic as well as an image created by him. 

http://www.tetherdcow.com/?p=2214

Here is one mroe link to a page criticizing both Masaru Emoto's work as well as the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?  Besides the actual content of the page, the comments provide interesting (and often amusing) discussion and perception about Mr. Emoto and his work. 

http://www.peeniewallie.com/2004/12/what_the_bleep.html

In the end, the photographs are beautiful and the idea (of living with love and gratitude) isn't so bad either.