concept
Japanese
Ikigai
/iหkษชษกaษช/
lit. โreason for beingโ
A reason to get up in the morning โ your sense of purpose.
Origin
Long-standing in Japanese culture but popularized abroad in the 2010s, often via a four-circle Venn diagram (what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, what you can be paid for) โ a Western infographic with weak grounding in actual Japanese sources. The original concept is gentler and more personal.
Modern usage
Heavy in career-coaching, longevity writing, and Blue Zones discourse. Sometimes oversold as a single magic alignment rather than something modest and lived.
Tags
purpose
japan
self-help