What’s the true meaning of ikigai: start finding your purpose

What is ikigai?

Ikigai (生き甲斐, "ee-kee-guy") is a Japanese concept. It describes the things that make your life worthwhile, the things that give you a deep sense of purpose, satisfaction, and joy.

The word has recently made its way into Western culture. It's sometimes defined as the 'secret to a happy life' or 'something that brings pleasure or fulfillment.' (This isn't entirely accurate, but we'll clear that up below.)

Ikigai is made up of two Japanese words, iki (生き), which means life, and kai (甲斐), meaning effect, result, value, benefit, or worth. Iki and kai come together to give us ikigai: a reason to live/to exist.

(If you're curious, the "k" turns into a "g" due to a linguistic phenomenon known as 'rendaku'. In Japanese, voiceless consonants (such as "k" in kai) become voiced (e.g., "g" in gai) when they appear in front of words that make up the second part of a compound.)

Although the concept of ikigai is well-known among Japanese people. Psychiatrist Mieko Kamiya first popularized it in her 1966 book Ikigai ni Tsuite - (生きがいについて - On the meaning of life).

What's the history behind ikigai?

The origin of the word ikigai dates all the way back to the Heian period (794 to 1185). Professor Akihiro Hasegawa has studied the concept of ikigai for many years.

He believes that the 'kai' actually comes from the Japanese word for shell or shellfish (貝). During the Heian period, shells were extremely valuable. They were often hand-decorated by artists and used as part of a shell-matching game called "kai-awase" (貝合わせ). Only the rich could afford these beautiful and valuable shells. This is how the word kai literally became synonymous with worth, value, benefit, and so on.

The misconception of ikigai and your professional career in the west

Ikigai has risen in popularity over the past few years. Blogs and news outlets, such as the BBC, have published countless stories such as Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a happy life. Unfortunately, many people in the West confuse ikigai with a certain Venn diagram about 'finding your purpose'.

The Western interpretation of Ikigai, popularized by Marc Winn

This ikigai diagram comprises four overlapping circles. Each circle contains a question. And each set of circles comes together to describe one's passion, mission, professional career, and vocation. Once you've contemplated each question, you can supposedly reveal your ikigai / life purpose.

The four questions ask whether or not you're doing:

• Something that you love
• Something that the world needs
• Something you're good at
• Something you can be paid for

Entrepreneur Marc Winn popularized the diagram. He combined the ikigai concept with a purpose-finding process invented by Spanish astrologer Andrés Zuzunaga in 2011. It became popular and turned into a meme. Many English-speaking cultures reference it as the authoritative definition of ikigai. (Credit goes to Nicholas Kemp for chronicling the history of ikigai's misconceptions.)

The purpose diagram can help people find balance in their life, but really it's advice for finding an ideal career, rather than life advice. It has nothing to do with the Japanese concept of ikigai. The online ikigai diagram suggests that meeting all four conditions is necessary to achieve true happiness or ikigai.

That's simply not true because it implies you can't experience ikigai if you do something you love but aren't getting paid for it. Your life passion might not be related to your professional career.

And while we're at it, let's clear up a certain geographical misconception.

Okinawan centenarians don't hold the secret to ikigai. Yes, life expectancy is surprisingly high in Okinawa (the southernmost prefecture of Japan) which is why it's on the list of Blue Zones.¹ Authors Héctor García and Francesc Miralles interviewed a group of Okinawan citizens over the age of 100 to discover their life philosophies for their book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. But it had the effect of placing Okinawa as the center of ikigai, which isn't really correct.

Professor Hasegawa found that location doesn't really influence people's ikigai. Rather, it all has to do with a healthy life, intellectual activeness, and perceived social behavior/roles.

The true meaning of the Japanese word ikigai

The truth is that Japanese people rarely ask themselves the above questions concerning ikigai. And it doesn't have to be related to our professional lives or some sort of business development.

The term isn't as grandiose in its original context. In reality, ikigai has more to do with the little things in life—finding deep meaning in the small, happy moments you learn to treasure as they nourish you with joy. This sense of awareness and gratitude is what makes a meaningful life.

According to Professor Hasegawa, we have to blame the language barrier for this misinterpretation. Ikigai has long been described as the Japanese secret to a long and happy life. But it's not something we can measure – nor does it lie in some certain sweet spot. The word iki, which comes from the verb ikiru/to live (生きる) pertains to daily living. When talking about someone's lifetime in more general terms, the Japanese use the noun 人生 (jinsei) instead.

So, here's a better way of framing the English translation, coined by Nicholas Kemp: the value one finds in day-to-day living.

The things that really bring you meaning in life (ikigai)

Mieko Kamiya didn't just help popularize the term ikigai in Japan. Many researchers (including professor Hasegawa) have used her findings to try and capture the true meaning of ikigai.

One thing Kamiya established was that most people have one specific force, or focus, of their personal ikigai. This can be tied to the past, present, or future and is related to personal life experiences. Some ikigai examples include:

• Experience
• Memory
• Health
• Hobby
• Family members
• Friends
• Social role
• Future events
• Imagination

Any of these can fuel a person's ikigai and personal development, leading to several positive feelings of life satisfaction:

• Self-realization and willingness to live
• Sense of fulfillment in everyday life
• Motivation to live
• Sense of existence
• Sense of control

These feelings are known as ikigai-kan. Many of us here in the West are driven by similar motivational forces; we're just not always conscious of their effects. In Japanese culture, people tie their happiness and well-being to their ikigai. Finding purpose and staying strong even when dealing with a highly stressful daily life. Japanese people's ikigai may be linked to their endurance, discipline, and determination.

Ikigai tools to find your life passion

If you're feeling a little lost in identifying your personal ikigai, Fingerprint for Success might be the right tool for you. We've created a personal development platform that is dedicated to helping real people find happiness and make amazing things happen. We can help you identify your biggest motivations that can be linked to your life passion. By taking our free assessment, you can uncover your highest areas of focus that fuel your ikigai. Our assessment tool and hyper-effective programs are backed by more than 20 years of research. It integrates science & technology to support you on your human development journey

We even offer free AI coaching if you want to focus on goals that will bring more meaning to your life. Our Vital Wellbeing is a great place to start for improving your overall emotional health, vitality, and self-esteem.