IKIGAI- The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

I got to read this book of Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles because of one my senior colleagues Dr Ruma Arora.

The book starts with an interesting Japanese proverb, which is worth mentioning here- “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years”.

The gist of the book is as follows:

 1. Prologue: IKIGAI- A Mysterious Word

IKI means life and GAI, the realization of hopes and expectations.

This Japanese concept of Ikigai can be roughly translated as “The happiness of always being busy”.

Those who discover their Ikigai have everything they need for a long and joyful journey through life.

According to WHO, Japan has highest life expectancy in the world; 85 years for men and 87.3 for women.

In the island of Okinawa, every 24.55 per 100,000 persons are centenarians. A rural town there, “Ogimi” is nicknamed as Village of Longevity.

Okinawa Archipelago of Japan

 2. IKIGAI- the art of staying young while growing old

The author relates Ikigai to French concept of raison d’être - most important reason or purpose for someone or something's existence.

The idea of retirement doesn’t exists in Japanese culture. They keep doing what they love as long as their health allows.

The geographic regions where people live longest are known as BLUE ZONES.  Dan Buettner in his book “The Blue Zones”- describe 5 such zones in the world. 

1. Okinawa, Japan
2. Sardinia, Italy
3. Loma Linda, California
4. Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
5. Ikaria, Greece

Of the five three are islands, where resources can be scarce and communities have to help one another.

3. ANTIAGING SECRETS- Little things that add up to a long and happy life

The book looks for causes of premature aging in modern life and then explores different factors related to Ikigai.

• Maintaining an active, adaptable mind is one of the key factors in staying young
• Brain needs a lot of stimulation in order to stay in shape. Presented with new information, the brain creates new connections and is revitalized.
• The greater the stress, the greater the degenerative effect on cells
• A lot of sitting will age you
• Melatonin a powerful anti-oxidant helps us live longer

4. FROM LOGO THERAPY TO IKIGAI- How to live longer and better by finding your purpose 

Viktor Frankl’s logo therapy is explained with a few case studies. Logo therapy is founded on the belief that human nature is motivated by the search for a life purpose.

Shoma Morita’s Morita Therapy- It focuses on teaching patients to accept their emotions without trying to control them. It is not meant to eliminate symptoms; instead it teaches us to accept our desires, anxieties, fears and worries, and let them go.

           “If you are angry and want to fight, think about it for three days before coming to blows. After three days, the intense desire to fight will pass on its own.”- Shoma Morita

5. FIND FLOW IN EVERYTHING YOU DO- How to turn work and free time into spaces for growth

We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit- Aristotle  

“Be water, my friend”- Bruce Lee

The state of “Flow”- In this state, people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it. It is elucidated by Csikszentmihalyi in his book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”.

According to him, in order to focus on a task we need: 

• To be in a distraction free environment
• To have control over what we are doing at every moment

To get into the flow: 

• Add a little something extra, something that takes you out of your comfort zone.
• Designate one day of the week for technological fasting
• Try the Pomodoro technique: 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest for each cycle.
• Use the principle of “compass over maps” as a tool to navigate our world of uncertainty (from Whiplash: How to survive our faster future-  of Joi ito and Jeff Howe)
• Concentrate on one thing at a time
• Do Meditation
• Focus on enjoying the daily rituals
• When confronted with a big goal, try to break it down into parts and then attack each part one by one.
• Don’t worry about the outcome of the work

Authors give here, some examples of famous personalities who were successful because of their “Flow”. They are skilled at bringing nature and technology together; not man versus nature, but rather a union of the two.

• Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was inspired from a porcelain takumi (artisan) of Japan- Yukio Shakunaga- who followed Etchu Seto-yaki technique
• Jiro-  a Michelin three star chef who runs a small sushi restaurant at Ginza Tokyo
• Hayao Miyazaki- the director of animated films produced by Studio Ghibli (only studio in the world where entire production is carried out using traditional techniques).
• Einstein- his ikigai was working on his formulas

The authors emphasise that the more you will flow, the closer you will be to your Ikigai.

They present it in a beautiful statement- “Can someone really retire if he is passionate about what he does?”

6. MASTERS OF LONGEVITY: Words of wisdom from the longest-living people in the world

People who live to 110years of age or more are called Super centenarians.  This word was coined in 1970 by Norris McWhirter- editor of the Guinness Book of World Records.

In this chapter the authors list thoughts and tips from a few super centenarians. Surprisingly, none of them had a similar view regarding their reason for their longevity.

7.LESSONS FROM JAPAN’S CENTENARIANS: Traditions and proverbs for happiness and longevity

In this chapter, authors travel to Ogimi, a village of longevity in Japan. They describe the lifestyle there.

• Celebrations seem to be an essential part of life in Ogimi.
• Their main religion is Ryuku Shinto [Ryuku- original name of Okinawa archipelago; Shinto- path of gods]
• They believe in Bunagaya sprites (animistic religion)
• Concept of “Mabui”- every person has an essence- the source of life.  
• Concept of “Moai”- informal group of people with common interests who look out for one another.

Ogimi village- Okinawa Islands, Japan

8. THE IKIGAI DIET- What the world’s longest-living people eat and drink

Okinawa’s miracle diet- 

• Eating the rainbow-
• Rarely eat sugar
• Eating less than 10gms of salt per day
• Hara Hachi bu- Fill up your belly to 80%. 12^th century book on Zen Buddhism-Zazen Youjinki- recommends eating two thirds as much as you might want to.
• By presenting their meals on many small plates, Japanese tend to eat less.
• Anti-oxidant rich ‘Shikuwasa’- Japan’s citrus fruit having the highest level of nobiletin (flavonoid rich in antioxidants)
• Sanpin-cha: a mix of green tea and jasmine flowers
• Okinawa is the only province of Japan without trains. Its residents have to walk or cycle when not driving.

Sanpin Cha (さんぴん茶）

9. GENTLE MOVEMENTS, LONGER LIFE- exercises from the east that promote health and longevity

Studies from blue zones suggest that the people who live longest are not the ones who do the most exercise but rather the ones who move the most.

In this chapter the authors describe various exercises of the east.

• Radio Torso from Japan-focuses on dynamic stretching and increasing joint mobility
• Yoga from India- unites body and mind towards a healthy lifestyle
• Tai chi from China- martial art focusing on personal growth
• Qigong from China- it works with individual life force
• Shiatsu from Japan- works on energy flow through the application of pressure with the thumbs and the palms 

10. RESILIENCE AND WABI-SABI- How to face life’s challenges without letting stress and worry age you

Resilience is when we pursue our passion no matter what.

Authors here give a small note on Buddhism and Stoicism. Though different philosophies, both aim to curb our ego and control our negative emotions. 

• Practice negative visualization- reflect on negative events, but without worrying about them.
• Worrying about things that are beyond our control accomplishes nothing.
• Present is all that exists and it is the only thing we can control- neither the past nor the future.
• Become anti-fragile- get stronger with every setback
• Wabi-Sabi: instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for it in things that are flawed, incomplete. It is as an opportunity for growth.
• Ichi-go ichi-e: This moment exists only now and won’t come again. Thus it is so important to find and pursue our Ikigai.

Finally, the authors end the book with summarizing the whole discussion into 10 rules of Ikigai.

Quite an interesting one, reading this book- I found that my Ikigai is “Writing”. I also found that I enter into the state of Flow when I’m into History. It is my happiness; it is my Ikigai.

It’s your mission now to discover yours. Realize them! Happy Reading!