This is the secret of happiness and longevity of the Japanese

The Japanese are able to cope with the "work hard" culture, but enjoy life thanks to the little secret Ikigai.


Popular KBG84 grandparents perform at Kohama Island, Okinawa Prefecture - Photo: AFP

For Japanese workers in big cities, a typical day of work begins with a sushi-zume situation - the term depicts the commuters being squeezed like rice in sushi on electric cars. Crowded.

In addition, the Japanese spend a lot of time on the job and work on the trams at midnight.

The secret that they can dedicate themselves to the work may be related to the Ikigai concept.

According to the BBC, there is no English phrase that accurately describes the meaning of Ikigai but can understand that it is the idea of ​​happiness in life. Basically, Ikigai can be the reason why you wake up in the morning.

Westerners think of life as Venn diagrams have four overlapping properties: what you love, what you do well, what the world needs and what you pay for.

But for the Japanese, they do not put much weight on income. According to the survey conducted by the Center for Japanese Studies, over 2,000 Japanese women and men in 2010, only 31% of respondents said Ikigai was related to income and employment.

Psychologist, an associate professor at Toyo Eiwa University, Akihiro Hasegawa said, "Ikigai consists of two words, iki meaning life and spikes meaning value.

Meanwhile the author of the book Ikigai-ni-tsuite, psychologist Mieko Kamiya explained that Ikigai is similar to "happy" but there are nuances in nuance. Ikigai allows people to hope for the future even when they are suffering in the present.

The psychologist Hasegawa also found that the Japanese believe that the daily joys of life make life more complete.

Dan Buettner's study of long-lived communities in the world also believes that the Ikigai concept contributes to the longevity of the Japanese people.

"Older people feel a duty to spread the minds of the younger generation, which gives them a purpose to live out their own lives, to make them want to contribute to the community," explains Buettner. .

According to Buettner, there are three important factors in life: your value, what you love to do and what you do well.

Ikigai is the concept of cutting across three factors. Mr. Buettner thinks Ikigai is "the purpose of action."

Those who carry the concept of Ikigai work well because they find meaning in their work, "work for the welfare of others". Thank you for leaving valuable comments