Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life

For Japanese however, the idea is slightly different. One's ikigai may have nothing to do with income. In fact, in asurvey of 2,000 Japanese men and women conducted by Central Research Services in 2010, just 31% of recipients considered work as their ikigai. Someone's value in life can be work - but is certainly not limited to that.

For Japanese however, the idea is slightly different. One's ikigai may have nothing to do with income. In fact, in asurvey of 2,000 Japanese men and women conducted by Central Research Services in 2010, just 31% of recipients considered work as their ikigai. Someone's value in life can be work - but is certainly not limited to that.

Hasegawa points out that in English, the word life means both lifetime and everyday life. So, ikigai translated as life's purpose sounds very grand. "But in Japan we have jinsei, which means lifetime and seikatsu, which means everyday life," he says. The concept of ikigai aligns more to seikatsu and, through his research, Hasegawa discovered that Japanese people believe that the sum of small joys in everyday life results in more fulfilling life as a whole.