ikigai

[ ee-kee-gahy ]

noun

1. one’s reason for being, which in principle is the convergence of one’s personal passions, beliefs, values, and vocation: those who follow the concept of ikigai undertake the activities of their life with willingness and a satisfying sense of meaning:

   The Amish may know nothing of ikigai or its roots in Japanese culture, but in many respects they adhere to its principle as a matter of tradition and routine.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ikigai¹

First recorded in 1970–75; from Japanese: literally, “value of being alive,” equivalent to iki “life, living, being alive,” from ikiru “to live” + -gai, combining form of kai “worth, value, benefit,” nominalized stem of kau “to buy”

Example Sentences

That has been his coping mechanism since his cryptocurrency firm, Ikigai Asset Management, lost most of its assets from last year’s collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, where he was a customer.

From New York Times

In Britain, there is an ongoing national effort called The Big Lunch, encouraging eating together and performing research about the benefits of communal eating, showing that the more often people eat with others, the more likely they are to be happy and satisfied with their lives — to come to that Japanese sense of ikigai.

From Washington Post

Awaken to “Awakening Your Ikigai,” the first English-language release by prolific Japanese author Ken Mogi, and the most substantive and culturally attentive among a crowded field of audiobooks devoted to this concept, which roughly translates as raison d’être, or a reason for living.

From Seattle Times

Nine years later, he spends summers on the “Ikigai,” a 53-foot yacht he named after the Japanese concept of finding happiness through a life of meaning.

From Washington Times

In his book “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest,” author Dan Buettner writes about the Japanese term “ikigai,” which roughly translates into “reason for being.”

From Seattle Times