Outside of Japan, ikigai is a greatly misunderstood concept with millions of people believing it to be a four-question framework and the “Japanese secret” to a long and happy life. What has been shared by millions of wellness bloggers, life coaches and HR managers as ikigai, in the form of…

Bringing together the world’s leading ikigai researchers, authors and speakers. Do you want to delve deeper into the concept of ikigai and learn more about Japanese culture? The world’s first Ikigai Summit offers a comprehensive look at the ikgai concept beyond the popular Venn diagram misrepresentation The Ikigai Summit will…

How living in Japan taught me to be humble “Hustle!” “Bring it on!” “I crushed it!” “Zone of genius.” Are the above expressions something you pride yourself on saying? I hope not! In the West, we have a tendency to talk things up. If we have done something reasonably well…

The Lifestyle Habits of the Ogimi Centenarians Ogimi The book IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret To a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, is more of a case study on the lives of the long-living residents from Ogimi, a small village in Okinawa, than an explanation or guide…

The Practice of Ichigyo-zanmai My Japanese father-in-law is a shokunin, a craftsman. This one-word translation doesn’t capture the essence of shokunin and the significance they have in Japanese culture. Shokunin make one-of-a-kind products that are highly appreciated for their simple yet sophisticated aesthetics; as a result, these masters are held…

Living with a sense of purpose The biggest misconception of ikigai is that it is a sweet spot of our professional life, where we achieve our one true purpose on a grand scale. We need to be careful about how we think about our ikigai. It is not a destination…

Insights From Japan’s Ikigai Research Pioneers In my book, IKIGAI-KAN: Feel a Life Worth Living, I address a conundrum: ikigai scholars, and even Japanese themselves, hold contradictory opinions on ikigai — particularly on the issue of how much we can experience or hold at any one time. While neuroscientist Ken…

Understanding the True Nature of Things How does one begin to self-actualise? Self-actualisation starts with acceptance: acceptance of yourself, of others, and of the world you live in. This is articulated by the Japanese word arugamama, which literally translates to ‘as it is’. …

A self-actualisation journaling practise. Introspection Naikan is a structured self-reflection technique. Nai means ‘inside’ and kan means ‘looking’; therefore, Naikan translates to ‘inside looking’ or ‘introspection’. The technique could be described as the Japanese art of self-reflection, of ​seeing oneself with the mind’s eye. Grounded in Pure Land Buddhist tradition, it…