The term "ikigai" is often misinterpreted as a Venn diagram that combines elements of passion, expertise, societal demand, and financial gain. However, this concept does not fully capture the essence of ikigai as it is understood in Japanese culture. In reality, ikigai represents a holistic approach to living that involves integrating one's daily work and personal life with a sense of purpose. By embodying this mindset, individuals can experience a myriad of benefits, including enhanced resilience, enriched relationships, heightened self-assurance, and much more.

1. What makes life worth living?
Ikigai is not a Venn-Diagram
Ikigai is far more

2. Spanish
proposito
Created by Andrés Zuzunaga in 2011,
the book "What would you do if you
were not afraid?" by Borja Vilaseca was
published in 2012 and in further
editions until 2019.
It was subsequently translated into
English on hundreds of websites and
eventually linked to the Ikigai concept
in a TED talk, although that concept is
many centuries older and had no
associated graphics. In 2016, it was also
cited in the book Ikigai by Ediciones
Urano.

3. The Meaning of Ikigai

4. “It seems that the word Ikigai exists only in the Japanese
language. The fact that this word exists should indicate that
the goal to live, its meaning and value have been
problematized in the daily life of the Japanese soul.”
– MIEKO KAMIYA

5. “According to the dictionary, ikigai means "strength needed to live in
this world, happiness, being alive, usefulness, effectiveness".
If we try to translate it into English, German, French, etc., there
seems to be no other way to define it other than "worth living" or
"value or meaning of life".
So, compared to philosophical theoretical concepts, the word ikigai
shows us how ambiguous the Japanese language is, but for that very
reason it has a resonant impact and a wide scope.”
– MIEKO KAMIYA

6. ● IKI = to live; GAI = value, benefit
● Value, to live; What makes life worth living
● "ikiru hari" Gratitude to live (794-1192)
KAI
● Realization of what is expected and
● hoped for → respond to life
● KAI = Shell
生き甲斐
Ikigai
Der wahre Ursprung

7. Ikigai is a Process

8. Ikigai is a journey – not a destination

9. Individual Process of Discovery

10. Japanese Cultural Elements
relating to Ikigai

11. Ikigai & Japanese Cultural Elements
Ease
Ikigai finds us. We find Ikigai on our journey.
Respect
Ikigai thrives on respect for the diversity of
our lives.
Space and Time
We find ikigai in unexpected moments when
we give ikigai space. These moments create a
uniqueness that we can cherish.
Harmony
A living Ikigai manifests itself through harmony
and personal peace in our lives.
Attention
Our Ikigai lives from our openness and
attention to the seemingly small things in
life.
Uniqueness
Awareness and appreciation of the
uniqueness (and transience) of the
moment-including people and the
environment.

12. Ikigai vs. Venn Purpose Diagram

13. Purpose
Diagram
What Why
How What for
Ikigai

14. The Mother of Ikigai

15. ● Ikigai as source vs. Ikigai as state-of-mind
● The feeling that life is valuable
● Individual self-realization
● A kind of happiness with future perspective
● Personal mission
● Your Ikigai: Writing about "Ikigai ni tsuite" -
what makes life worth living
Mieko Kamiya und Ikigai

16. Kamiyas life
In 1963 at the age of 49 she wrote her central work
"Ikigai ni tsuite". She wrote the work at home in
Ashiya in 5 years.
Translated, it reads "On the Meaning (Value) of Life"
or "What Makes Life Worth Living."
The core of the book is the rediscovery of the meaning of
life after major setbacks. It was published in 1966.

17. Ikigai & Ikigai-kan

18. “There is nothing more for humans to live life fully than
IKIGAI. Therefore there is no cruelty greater than to deprive
humans of their ikigai, and there is no greater love than to
give humans their ikigai.”
– MIEKO KAMIYA

19. There are two ways to use the word "ikigai."
It can refer to the source or object of life's value,
as in "This child is my ikigai," or it can refer to the
mental state of feeling ikigai.
The latter is what Viktor Frankl calls the "sense of meaning."
I will call it "Ikigai-Kan" to distinguish it from the former
"Ikigai" itself.
– MIEKO KAMIYA

20. “There is something waiting for me.”
Ikigai-Kan
“My life is destined for something higher.”
Ikigai-Kan

21. 7 Ikigai dimensions according to
Mieko Kamiya

22. a powerful
Ikigai

23. ● fundamental need
● experienced in everyday life
● daily small pleasures,
● z. e.g. in nature
● courage for challenges
● negative emotions steer away
Life satisfaction

24. ● Successes & setbacks
● Change brings growth
● allow fresh wind, proactively search
● vs. stuck routine, mindset
● outside the comfort zone
Growth & Change

25. ● Expectation
● Physical & mental Well-Being
● Light at the end of the tunnel
● Goals in mind, tangible direction,
● Being alive, long and short term
A good future

26. ● deep, authentic relationships
● Jap. ibasho, "a place where we feel at
home."
● support, criticism and support as a
basic need
● giving yourself to others
Resonance (hankyo)

27. ● Between fate, time and needs: Where is
freedom?
● Striving for stability vs. freedom
● inner and outer boundaries
● perceived freedom, self-determination,
autonomy
Freedom

28. ● arrive in the moment, recognize the
inner needs and follow them
● recognize our uniqueness and
develop ourselves
● mirror our own values
Self-realization

29. ● Everyone strives to find meaning
● & to justify the value of one's own
● justify the value of one's life
● We all ask unconsciously and consciously
● about the meaning of life
● From our experiences we formulate
answers to this → life-affirming
Meaning & Value

30. „When we wake up from sleep, we are greeted by
the morning.
We did not create the morning; it somehow came
to give us the chance to live another day.
We wake up and discover the morning.
The meaning of life is like the morning.”
– Mieko Kamiya