Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life

The secret may have to do with what Japanese call ikigai . There is no direct English translation, but it's a term that embodies the idea of happiness in living. Essentially, ikigai is the reason why you get up in the morning.

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To those in the West who are more familiar with the concept of ikigai, it's often associated with a Venn diagram with four overlapping qualities: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.

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.

In a 2001 research paper on ikigai, co-author Akihiro Hasegawa, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Toyo Eiwa University, placed the word ikigai as part of everyday Japanese language. It is composed of two words: iki , which means life and gai, whichdescribes value or worth.

According to Hasegawa, the origin of the word ikigai goes back to the Heian period (794 to 1185). " Gai comes from the word kai ("shell" in Japanese) which were deemed highly valuable, and from there ikigai derived as a word that means value in living."

There are other words that use kai: yarigai or hatarakigai which mean the value of doing and the value of working. Ikigai can be thought of as a comprehensive concept that incorporates such values in life.

There are many books in Japan devoted to ikigai, but one in particular is considered definitive: Ikigai-ni-tsuite (About Ikigai), published in 1966.