Find your purpose the Japanese way

Ikigai is a centuries-old practice hailed as one of the reasons the Japanese live such long and fulfilling lives. Here’s how to make it work for you and enjoy a happy and satisfying life, says Katharine Wootton

The phrase ‘find your purpose’ might sound like something you’d say to your grandchildren, rather than yourself. In Japan, however, it’s a different story.

The Japanese repeatedly report record numbers of people living to at least 100. In one particular area, the island of Okinawa, two thirds of residents are still living independently at the age of 97, suffering far fewer cases of chronic illnesses and even dementia than elsewhere in the world.

So, what’s the secret? One long-suspected answer is ikigai –pronounced ‘eye-ka-guy.’ It’s a concept most prominent in Okinawa but practised across Japan and translates as finding your reason for being and pursuing what you love from the cradle to the grave. In Japan, there is no such thing as retirement – there isn’t even a word for it. Instead there is only ikigai – your reason for getting up in the morning – and this goes far beyond what you do in your professional life. Hobbies, travel, friendships and community all add to your ikigai. For this reason, a sense of purpose continues long after official work ends and it’s thought this is the motivating force that contributes to the Japanese leading such long, flourishing lives. The best thing is, we don’t have to live in Japan to try ikigai for ourselves.

How to find your ikigai

Looking at the diagram opposite, you can see ikigai has four components – passion, mission, vocation and profession.

You can find these by asking yourself four main questions: What do you love? What are you good at? What does the world need? And what can you be paid for?

To help you answer the question about what you love, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, authors of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Healthy Life, recommend thinking about what gives you ‘flow’.

“We’ve all felt time vanish when we lose ourselves in an activity we enjoy,” they say. “We may spend time doing something and forget about the world going by until we notice the sunset and realise we haven’t eaten dinner.” Think then about what you are doing when you forget time exists. If you can’t think what gives you ‘flow’ think about new hobbies that could help you find that. For example, if you enjoy photography, perhaps trying painting might help you find the thing you love.

Other good questions to ask include: If I had all the money in the world, how would I spend my time? What would my perfect day look like? What brought me immense joy as a child?

As you start scribbling ideas around this diagram, the aim is to look for common themes that fit in those intersections between the bubbles.

For example, you might say you love your grandchildren, you’re good at caring for others and the world needs kindness. These may suggest your ikigai is to help other people. In practice, this could mean searching out new ways to teach your grandchildren about being kind or volunteering with children once social distancing has ended.

The key to ikigai, many experts say, is not to always think big. In Japan, they celebrate the simple, little things such as making the perfect sushi or crafting a beautiful piece of pottery, and these little tasks can become the ikigai that gets people out of bed, living into their 90s and beyond.

Journalist Camilla Cavendish, author of Extra Time, who has researched ikigai, says, “Some retired people are struggling, perhaps too hard, to invent a grand new narrative for their lives. Others derive deep contentment from the small things: singing in a choir or doing the shopping for a neighbour. My Japanese friend, Dora, who is one of the calmest people I know, advises that it is better to ask, ‘what gives meaning to my life?’ than to strive for ‘what is my higher purpose?’ It’s about gratitude, she says, not ambition.”