What’s your reason for
getting up in the morning? Just trying to answer such a big question might make
you want to crawl back into bed. If it does, the Japanese concept of ikigai
could help.
Originating from a
country with one of the world's oldest populations, the idea is becoming
popular outside of Japan as a way to live longer and better.
While there is no
direct English translation, ikigai is thought to combine the Japanese words
ikiru, meaning “to live”, and kai, meaning “the realization of what one hopes
for”. Together these definitions create the concept of “a reason to live” or
the idea of having a purpose in life.
Ikigai also has
historic links: gai originates from the word kai, which means shell. These were
considered very valuable during the Heian period (794 to 1185), according to Akihiro Hasegawa, a clinical psychologist and
associate professor at Toyo Eiwa University, adding a sense of
"value in living".
To find this reason or
purpose, experts recommend starting with four questions:
- What do you love?
- What are you good at?
- What does the world need from you?
- What can you get paid for?
Finding the answers
and a balance between these four areas could be a route to ikigai for
Westerners looking for a quick interpretation of this philosophy. But in Japan,
ikigai is a slower process and often has nothing to do with work or income.
In a 2010 survey of
2,000 Japanese men and women, just 31% of participants cited work as their
ikigai.
Gordon Matthews,
professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and author
of What Makes Life Worth Living?: How Japanese and Americans Make Sense
of Their Worlds, told the Telegraph that how people understand
ikigai can, in fact, often be mapped to two other Japanese ideas – ittaikan and
jiko jitsugen. Itaikkan refers to “a sense of oneness with, or commitment to, a
group or role”, while jiko jitsugen relates more to self-realization.
Matthews says that
ikigai will likely lead to a better life “because you will have something to
live for”, but warns against viewing ikigai as a lifestyle choice: “Ikigai is
not something grand or extraordinary. It’s something pretty matter-of-fact.”
Okinawa, a remote
island to the south west of Japan, has an unusually large population of
centenarians and is often referred to in examinations of ikigai - though not by
Gordon.
According to Dan Buettner, an expert on Blue
Zones, the areas of the world where people live longest, the concept of ikigai
pervades the life of these islanders. Combined with a particular diet and
support network of friends or “moai”, ikigai is helping people live longer on
Okinawa as it gives them purpose, he says, who provides a karate master,
fisherman and great-great-great-grandmother, all of whom are more than 100
years old, as examples.
Just knowing what your
ikigai is is not enough – all of these people put their purpose into
action, Buettner explains in a BBC interview.
Researchers stress that ikigai can change with age. For anyone whose work is
their reason for living, this will come as a relief as they approach retirement
and begin the search for a new ikigai.
Source: World Economic
Forum
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