Ikigai is the Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 equivalent of the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, raison d'être. In English, these translate respectively as 'something one lives for' and 'a reason for being'. Although the meanings are similar, cultural

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

 attitudes toward the concept they embody differ.

Few possess a raison d’être. Those who live with an enduring passion

Passion (emotion)

Passion is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something....

 for something can be consumed by it to the detriment of social relationships

Social relation

In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three or more individuals . Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social...

 and a "normal" lifestyle. Thus, there are desirable and undesirable aspects to having a raison d’être.

Everyone, according to the Japanese

Culture of Japan

The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America...

, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. Such a search is regarded as being very important, since it is believed that discovery of one's ikigai brings satisfaction

Contentment

"Contentment" seems realistically defined as "enjoyment of whatever may be desired". That definition is realistic because the more contented an individual or community becomes the less extreme so more acceptable their desires will be...

 and meaning to life

Meaning of life

The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", and "What is the meaning of it all?" It has...

.

External links

• "Factors associated with 'Ikigai' among members of a public temporary employment agency for seniors (Silver Human Resources Centre) in Japan; gender differences", Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. 2006; 4: 12 (retrieved Nov 2008).
• "Ikigai", More Explore (retrieved Nov 2008).
• "Ikigai and Mortality" Psychology Today. 17 Sep 2008 (retrieved Jan 2010).
• "Dan Buettner: How to live to be 100+" TED talk about longevity that explains the word in the Okinawan context. Jan 2010.