Books on Ikigai
Ikigai – The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. Penguin Books, New York (2016).
Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake up to Joy and Purpose Every Day by Ken Mogi. The Experiment LLC, New York (2017).
Consider reading one or both of these if you are interested in exploring an Eastern lifestyle that emphasizes purpose over the life course including as we age.
The main premise: Both of these short books introduce the concept of ikigai to Western readers and elucidate its benefits for people as they age.
I like these books because they are brief overviews of a concept that interests me and they are available at the library; you could read either of them and get the general idea. Garcia and Miralles use the Blue Zones, areas of the world where people live to old age and retain a robust ability to function, to illustrate what ikigai looks like. They also link ikigai to logotherapy and the work of Viktor Frankl, which aligns with what we discuss in the Compass Course. Mogi describes the 5 pillars or foundations that enable ikigai to flourish in a person’s life: starting small; releasing yourself; harmony and sustainability; joy of small things; being in the here and now. Note that I like these books – I didn’t love them as with the other books mentioned on this site. The concept of “ikigai” seems tough to nail down, which likely explains why I thought both books were kind of vague. But again, they are short, easily accessible, and explore a concept that I think is interesting, if not important, and so I think it’s worth your time to at least skim one of them.
These books inform our pursuit of purpose in life because they describe a philosophy where purpose is part of the normal fabric of life. I like the presumption that ikigai extends throughout a person’s entire life, though how it may look changes over time. I learned that ikigai is a way of life or philosophy of living that emphasizes continuous engagement in value-rich endeavors – with patience and optimism that allow people to be satisfied with small steps, savor everyday blessings, and an investment in the here and now. If you read my blog, you’ll know that I’m struggling to embrace the concept of “retirement” but can say for sure, I want ikigai.
Ken Mogi is a Japanese neuroscientist, writer, and researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratories.
Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles are writers and world-travelers who were both born in Spain. Hector Garcia has lived in Japan for many years.
What about you? Consider sharing a recommendation and something about how it has helped you live with purpose.