Ikigai Quotes You Have Never Read Before

Insights From Japan’s Ikigai Research Pioneers

In my book, IKIGAI-KAN: Feel a Life Worth Living, I address a conundrum: ikigai scholars, and even Japanese themselves, hold contradictory opinions on ikigai — particularly on the issue of how much we can experience or hold at any one time.

While neuroscientist Ken Mogi tells us that ikigai can be a rich and multifaceted spectrum of what makes life worth living, anthropologist Gordon Mathews believes that you are not being honest with yourself if you say you have more than one, and instead are trying to diversify just to hedge your bets. Both Mogi and Mathews are authorities on the concept and have written books on the subject, yet hold different opinions.

As ikigai is personal and ultimately subjective, looking at a diverse range of perspectives is helpful for us to understand what ikigai means in the context of Japanese culture.

Ikigai Quotes

Rather than share with you quotes that romanticise the concept of ikigai; ‘the secret to a long and happy life’, ‘never retiring’ , ‘finding your bliss’ and so on, this article will share quotes from Japan’s ikigai research pioneers and current day authors.

Many of these quotes are from guests of my podcast, The Ikigai Podcast, and quotes I translated…