Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Joyful Life
44 comments
·October 22, 2024huvarda
Minor49er
"Vocation" is a synonym, though it is misrepresented by the Venn diagram at the bottom of the article
Looking up "vocation" in modern dictionaries just says that it's a career, but that is wrong. The real meaning is a "calling", or: something that brings good to the world, that you can do, that you enjoy doing, and that sustains your livelihood
I grew up around Lutheran communities who stressed what a gift a vocation is because it isn't something that most people can reach. But we shouldn't stop looking for ours
SatvikBeri
From the excellent 1913 Webster's dictionary:
Vo-ca′tion (vō̍-kā′shŭn), noun [L. vocatio a bidding, invitation, fr. vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice: cf. F. vocation. See Vocal.]
1. A call; a summons; a citation; especially, a designation or appointment to a particular state, business, or profession.
2. Destined or appropriate employment; calling; occupation; trade; business; profession.
3. (Theol.) A calling by the will of God. Specifically: –
(a) The bestowment of God’s distinguishing grace upon a person or nation, by which that person or nation is put in the way of salvation; as, the vocation of the Jews under the old dispensation, and of the Gentiles under the gospel.
(b) A call to special religious work, as to the ministry.
wnc3141
I went to a Lutheran school that did a mini camp for finding vocation.
However when interacting the job market, I realized early on in my career that the modern economy leaves little room for exploring just that. Those I've observed bucking that trend I would more describe as "following their curiosity" - because usually, some good comes of it, even if you're not sure where it leads.
yen223
A "calling" seems like a perfectly cromulent word for what's being talked about
MarkSweep
Looking at an Japanese to English dictionary:
https://jisho.org/search/%E7%94%9F%E3%81%8D%E7%94%B2%E6%96%9...
Besides the examples you mention, the French phrase “raison d'être” is commonly used in English well.
trinix912
It is an article on a Japanese Government website, of course they're going to promote themselves.
Honestly, I find it weird to have this posted here. It's just a classic "Welcome to ____" site for attracting tourists.
fildevtronic
You do realise that this is published by the Japanese government, right?
asdasdsddd
that's how i feel about umami (savoury) and kawaii (cute)
bigstrat2003
People using "umami" in English is a big pet peeve of mine. It's so damn pretentious. "Savory" covers the meaning more than adequately and has existed in the language for a long time. There's no reason for the foreign loan word except to try to sound super smart.
yen223
Umami refers to a specific flavour, savoury refers to a broad category of foods that are basically not sweet. You can have "savoury" meals that have no umami flavour.
quesera
Umami is a subset of savory.
It's not pretentious (when used correctly), it's more precise.
dymk
It’s not the same flavor
vunderba
But summing up their "profound discovery" in a single sentence wouldn't give them the opportunity to write a 200 page bloviated soft-serve yogurt treatise on the guaranteed secrets to true happiness.
isamuel
At the end, there's one of the craziest Venn diagrams I've seen in a while. The diagram asserts that --- by definition --- you aren't good at your "mission," the world does not need your "profession," you can't be paid for your "passion," and you can't love your "vocation." Grim!
kulahan
That's not what it's trying to imply. It's saying that if you chose a job based on what the world needs and what you love doing, you're in the realm of completing a mission. Then you look at the diagram to see what you're missing to reach Ikigai. This is a very "glass half empty" look at a literal diagram lol.
grisBeik
There's this diagram, and there's David Graeber's book Bullshit Jobs.
"What you love" and "What you are good at" certainly have a non-empty intersection, but that's mostly a distinct set from "what you can be paid for". "What you are good at" and "What you can be paid for" also have a non-empty intersection, but that set is again (mostly) distinct from "what you love". In brief, you can enjoy work, but then it will pay shit, or you can make money, but you'll hate it.
The most interesting part however is the right hand side. "What you can be paid for" and "What the world needs" have a practically empty intersection. Regardless of both personal skill and drive, there is effectively zero money available for the sorest needs of society. (Public healthcare (including mental health), public education, public infrastructure, etc.)
Nice diagram, but a pipe dream.
iterance
The obvious question to ask about this purported "pick two" triad is, why must that be so?
- If one is good at their job, why does that imply that either they won't be paid well, or they'll hate it?
- If one enjoys their job, why does that imply they must be paid poorly or suck at it?
- If one is paid well, why does that imply they will be eaten alive by work or terrible at their job?
The assertions such diagrams make just don't stand up to scrutiny when viewed in reverse. They should stand up to symmetry, and clearly do not; the veneer of logic is peeled away. Instead it reveals the underlying issue: they serve only to elucidate a cynical outlook.
Perhaps in general, I'll admit, there is presently a shortage of opportunities working for the public good; but I'm reluctant to even give an inch on that because it lends itself to a cynical belief system about the world which the statement alone does not imply: it is not necessarily a true inference to say that, if there is a shortage, there will never be; or, that if one wants such a job, they will never be able to get it and best give up early.
Don't let cynicism take you. It will take, and take, and take, and leave you only table scraps of joy.
quesera
> The diagram asserts that --- by definition --- you aren't good at your "mission,"
This is a misreading of the Venn diagram. Ikigai is the only section where Passion, Mission, Profession, and Vocation all intersect. The "Passion" etc sections are not bounded to the 2-layer overlaps where the labels sit, they extend into the 3 and 4-layer overlaps also.
But I'll grant you that the Venn diagram is crazy and overpacked.
aimor
You're not reading it right. The labels overlap, they are not disjoint.
androng
>When we asked what their ikigai was, they gave us explicit answers, such as their friends, gardening, and art
Correct me if I'm wrong but almost no one is paid for friends, gardening or art. And the definition of ikigai is "something you can be paid for". So this concept of ikigai essentially does not exist.
addicted
Based on the article alone, you seem to be getting that from the Venn diagram. But the Venn diagram doesn’t attempt to define Ikigai. It’s a tool to help one find their own ikigai.
The definition of ikugai in the article does not include something you can be paid for.
somethoughts
My hot take is that the part that got lost in translation as it transitioned into a pithy airport bookstore business book is that it originally didn't have to be a single activity that covers all of the Venn diagram.
It is more about making sure the union of the Venn diagram is covered by one or more daily activities. So hobbies are about ensuring that you are not just focusing on the vocation circle.
mark_l_watson
I read the book referenced in the article. Recommended!
Simple but effective ideas. Similar in vibe to the book The Four Agreements.
revorad
This is an interesting take on the concept of Ikigai - https://www.lkazphoto.com/blog/photography-and-ikigai
hindsightbias
Seems like someone would be lucky to have the intersection of three or four.
somethoughts
I found this useful
The Problem with Ikigai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeX6kNbaF0w
The TLDR I got from is that first - that the diagram itself was made up by someone trying to write a business blog/book.
The second is that the goal is not to find one singular activity to cover the intersection of the Ikigai Venn diagram. Instead it can be better to have multiple different activities which ensure the union of the Ikigai Venn diagram is covered so you aren't myopically focused on one area of it.
lobochrome
Good old orientalism
kaycebasques
Is this term actually used widely through Japanese culture or are they just riding the popularity train? E.g. if I'm in a "planning your future career" class in a high school in Japan, is the concept of ikigai going to come up?
Ferret7446
It's a normal term, but I'm not familiar with it being used like this. This does smell like a "self improvement" marketing push.
The Japanese Wikipedia article seems to heavily cite Western sources as the origin for this usage.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%9F%E3%81%8D%E7%94%B2%E6...
Back in reality, the word is more commonly used in the expression 生き甲斐がある (ikigai ga aru) which means roughly "Life is good", "I'm glad to be alive", which you might use after sipping a really good beer for example.
blargey
It's a normal word/concept that everyone's familiar with.
As for career planning, I don't think it's very relevant. The sorta-equivalent sayings like "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life!" tend to be used in a way that puts existing preferences and interests first, and everything else as a consequence of it. The way I'd think of "ikigai" in a career context, the work being meaningful (as in the opposite of a "bullshit job") is what comes first. Since it's meaningful, it's something the world needs, so you can get paid for it. Since it's the opposite of a bullshit job, you're motivated to devote the time and effort and attention to be(come) good at it. A job well-done is satisfying. So I'd envision it as something you settle into, rather than plan ahead with your guidance counselor equivalent.
It's also not necessarily a word specific to jobs/careers in the first place, and in a literal sense only means "I live for this" / "it's worth living for". The rest is a recent fixation by writers.
anigbrowl
No. It's just lifestyle marketing.
null
rjaknba
This is a meaningless diagram that CEOs roll out when they want to make the point that everyone should focus more on business.
It has the same value as the Gartner Magic Quadrant.
sweeter
have hobbies and goals and participate in community activities... I don't know how I feel about platitudes like this. On one hand, it is obviously true and doing this things will make you feel better... but at the same time I think most people already understand this and its not a matter of simply not knowing that this is a helpful thing to do.
This article kind of feels like a "place, Japan" type of article not going to lie. "There is no other word like this in any other language." Passion? Purpose?