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In 1995, I was one of four students from my college to be awarded a one-year traineeship to Tokyo to study cooking and restaurant management. I worked at an izakaya – a lively bar-style restaurant, similar to a tapas bar, that serves various dishes and snacks. The word is made up of the three characters […]

The Seven Ikigai NeedsIn her work with the Aisei-en lepers, Mieko Kamiya found that the experience of ikigai-kan, the feeling of ikigai, depended on seven conditions – or, to use her word, seven ‘needs’.  This is expressed in Japanese as yokkyu, and in kanji it is written as 欲求. The first character, 欲 (yoku), represents

Ikigai starts with your values. You will feel ikigai if you live in harmony with your values – not those that you have inherited from or been pressured to accept by family, friends, institutions, or society, but those that you have identified for yourself. If you live in conflict or are forced to compromise your

Ikigai ni Tsuite is the title of Mieko Kamiya’s seminal book in which she shared her model of ikigai. Her book is still considered a standard reference by contemporary Japanese researchers, professors, and psychologists, despite it being published over a half-century ago, in 1966. On the Meaning of LifeIn Japanese, tsuite means ‘about; concerning; as

Where are all the mothers?When we think of great philosophers, names such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle come to mind. In psychology, pioneers include Wilhelm Wundt, William James, and Sigmund Freud. In the field of positive psychology, Abraham Maslow, Martin Seligman, and Christopher Peterson are considered founding fathers. One name that should be added to

According to Gogole Trends Japan the below are the top 5 searched keywords related to ikigai.生きがい ない = No ikigai (No purpose/meaning in life)高齢 者 = Elderly people生きがい センター = Ikigai center生きがい が ない = No ikigai (が = subject marker)生きがい 意味 = Ikigai meaningMillions of Japanese don’t feel ikigaiMany books and blog posts that

The internet and social media is ablaze with ikigai again thanks to the Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, but is Okinawa the land of immortals or Japan’s least healthy prefecture?The answer appears to be both. In episode one, The Journey Begins, National Geographic Fellow Dan Buetter travels to Okinawa, Japan where

Everyday on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Medium hundreds of users unwittingly post, share, like and promote a Japanese concept that has been appropriated – Ikigai. If you are reading this then most  likely you have seen the Venn diagram below.Indeed the Venn diagram is seductive as it appeals to our ego. I’m sure without