Journal · Finding purpose
What Is Ikigai? The Real Meaning Behind the Famous Diagram
Somewhere in Japan, early in the morning, an old man walks to a small plot of land and checks on his tomatoes. He does not earn money from them. He is not especially skilled. The world will not notice if they fail. And yet, if you asked him why he gets up, he might point to the plot and say, simply: that.
That is closer to the heart of ikigai than the colourful diagram you have probably seen a hundred times.
What is ikigai?
Ikigai (生き甲斐) combines iki, to live, and gai, a word for worth, value or effect. Put together, it means something like "a reason for being" or "that which makes life worth living."
In everyday Japanese it is a modest word. A person might say their ikigai is their grandchildren, their morning tea ceremony, their work at the local shrine, or the dog who greets them at the door. It does not need to be grand. It needs to be yours, and it needs to make you glad to wake up.
The neuroscientist Ken Mogi, in his book Awakening Your Ikigai (2017), describes it as a spectrum that runs from tiny daily pleasures to a life's larger aims. The small and the large are not rivals. They feed each other.
The diagram that is not quite ikigai
You know the picture: four overlapping circles labelled what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for, with ikigai written in the middle.
It is a useful tool. It is just not Japanese.
The four-circle chart was originally a Western "purpose" diagram. In 2014, the blogger Marc Winn wrote a post about ikigai after hearing about long-lived communities in Okinawa, and swapped the word purpose in the centre of that diagram for ikigai. He has since spoken openly about how the mash-up happened and how far it travelled (Ikigai Tribe interview with Marc Winn).
The difference matters. The diagram says your reason for being should also be your income. Many Japanese people would find that odd. Ikigai can be completely unpaid. Insisting that it must earn money turns a gentle idea about joy into another career-planning exercise, and leaves people feeling they have failed if their deepest meaning does not pay the rent.
What the research says
Ikigai is not only poetry; it has been studied.
In the Ohsaki Study, Japanese researchers asked 43,391 adults a single question: Do you have ikigai in your life? Over the next seven years, those who answered no had a significantly higher risk of death from all causes than those who answered yes, even after adjusting for other factors (Sone et al., 2008).
Research on "purpose in life" in other countries points in a similar direction (Cohen et al., 2016). As always, an association is not a promise. People with ikigai may differ in many ways. But it suggests that having something to get up for is not a sentimental extra. It is woven into how people live.
If you're searching, we may be what you're looking for: request to join.
How to find your ikigai (the gentler way)
Forget the pressure of the four circles for a moment. Try these instead.
Notice your mornings
For one week, pay attention to the first thing you look forward to each day. A coffee? A conversation? A problem at work you are itching to solve? Write it down. Ikigai often hides in what you already anticipate.
List your small joys
Make a list of twenty small things that make you glad: the smell of bread, fixing a squeaky hinge, a long phone call with your sister, the first cold morning of autumn. Do not filter for usefulness. Ikigai begins in the small.
Ask who would miss you
Not in a dark way, in a practical one. Who relies on you? Whose day is better because you are in it? Roles of care (parent, friend, teacher, neighbour, the person who always remembers birthdays) are among the most common sources of ikigai.
Practise, do not just plan
Many ikigai are crafts: gardening, cooking, music, carpentry, calligraphy. They deepen through repetition. Choose one thing you enjoy and give it a little time every day for a month. Mastery and meaning tend to grow together.
Belong to something
In Okinawa, people often speak of moai, small groups of friends who support one another for life. A sense of being part of something larger, whether a family, a club, a faith community or a tribe, gives your daily effort somewhere to land.
Then, if you like, use the circles
Once you have your small joys and roles, the four-circle diagram can be a helpful planning tool for work. Just remember: if your ikigai never shows up in the paid circle, nothing is wrong. Some of the most meaningful things in life are given away.
Common misunderstandings
"Ikigai is one big life purpose." It can be, but in Japanese use it is often plural and small. A person may have several ikigai at once, and they can change over a lifetime.
"If I haven't found it, I'm behind." Ikigai is not a race. Many people find theirs in later life, after children grow up or after retirement, in a garden, a craft or a role in their community.
"It must be unique to me." Not at all. Thousands of people may share the same ikigai, such as caring for grandchildren or playing in a local band. It is personal without needing to be original.
"Ikigai is a productivity method." It is closer to an attitude of gratitude and engagement than a planning technique. Treating it as one more target to hit can drain the joy out of it.
Ikigai is not a destination
The man with the tomatoes did not achieve his ikigai. He keeps it, morning by morning, by showing up. That is the lesson: a reason for being is not a trophy you win once. It is something you tend, like a plant, with small daily attention.
Here is a task for tomorrow. Before you check your phone, take three minutes to do one small thing you love, slowly and on purpose. Make the tea properly. Water the plant. Read one page. Notice how the day feels different when it begins with something that is yours.
That is where it starts. Not in a diagram, but in a morning.
If you're searching, we may be what you're looking for: request to join.
Until tomorrow morning,
The Chief
Sources
- Sone, T., Nakaya, N., Ohmori, K., et al. (2008). Sense of life worth living (ikigai) and mortality in Japan: Ohsaki Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(6), 709-715. doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e31817e7e64
- Cohen, R., Bavishi, C., & Rozanski, A. (2016). Purpose in life and its relationship to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events: a meta-analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(2), 122-133. doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000274
- Ikigai Tribe podcast, episode 5: Marc Winn on merging ikigai with the Venn diagram of purpose. ikigaitribe.com/ikigai/podcast05/
- Mogi, K. (2017). Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day. The Experiment.
Related reading: How to find your purpose in life · How to find a sense of belonging · Benefits of walking every day
Questions
What does ikigai mean in English?
Ikigai is usually translated as 'a reason for being' or 'a sense of life worth living'. In everyday Japanese it can describe small things too: a morning walk, a grandchild, tending a garden.
Is the ikigai Venn diagram Japanese?
No. The four-circle diagram (what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, what you can be paid for) is a Western purpose diagram. In 2014 blogger Marc Winn replaced the word 'purpose' at its centre with 'ikigai', and that version went viral.
Does ikigai have to be my job?
No. In Japan, ikigai is often found outside paid work: family, hobbies, friendships, community roles. The idea that it must also earn money comes from the Western diagram, not the Japanese concept.
Can ikigai help you live longer?
A large Japanese study found that people who said they had ikigai had a lower risk of death over seven years than those who said they did not. That is an association, not proof of cause, and no one can promise a longer life.
General information for wellbeing, not medical, psychological or financial advice. If you are struggling, see crisis help.