IkigaiTribe

If you died right now, what do you think would happen to you?

This is a question that many people have explored, yet a clear answer remains elusive. No one knows for certain if life after death truly exists, but contemplating the possibility can imbue our lives with greater meaning.

Can robots help enhance the quality of life for older adults?
As people get older, their ikigai tends to change, and in some cases, they may experience a loss of it. However, with technology, it is possible to address these challenges and help older adults rediscover lost ikigai.

“The old Japanese word ibasho has been used in everyday situations. Like, please tell me his ibasho, his roundabout, his way about. The use of this term ibasho was newly used in policymaking and research in the 1990s. The background of this is that in the 1980s, the problem of Japanese education was truancy, those who do not attend schools.

And the Minister of Education in Japan gave a report on a policy of transit in 1992. The subtitle was, ‘Give them ibasho in schools.’ So ibasho was used in policymaking. And after that, researchers in the field of education, psychology, sociology, and architecture use the word ibasho as a technical term.”

“These challenges taught me valuable lessons and helped me grow personally and professionally. We gained a deeper understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, and we honed our problem-solving skills. Moreover, these experiences allowed us to develop a broader perspective and expand our knowledge and capabilities. We learn to adapt to new situations and think creatively to overcome challenges. We discover the significance of collaboration and effective communication in achieving our goals.”

“The participants gave me the idea of losing ikigai, maintaining ikigai, recovering ikigai, or finding new ikigai. Ikigai becomes very dynamic, because it’s either lost or maintained or recovered. A lot of participants told me that during the crisis, and also after the crisis, nature was the kind of connector, and this is how I ended up being so interested on environmental issues, and sustainability, and perceptions of climate change crisis, and what does the connection of people with nature have to do with their well-being?

So during the crisis, they felt that connecting to nature helped to overcome the crisis. And after the crisis, still appreciating nature was something that was very much rooted in people’s experiences.”

“So when I started making the film when I was in high school, the comedy detective film, and showed it to people in my school, and made people laugh, that empowered me. And I felt something special about making something out of nothing. So filmmaking became my ikigai. But when I started working on carving the divine, it’s not ikigai anymore.”

“In today’s world, many people try to grow and grow and grow. They think growth is always important. Once you reach one level, then you need to grow farther. But for me, once you’re comfortable, then maybe you move to the next phase of helping others to grow, or working on your other areas of life, and so on. Just limit the growth, and then be satisfied with your own lot is taru wo shiru.

And in fact, if everybody practises taru wo shiru, then the world becomes more sustainable. Because we can sustain a kind of wealth of comfortable level for each individual, but we cannot sustain the planet if a few people want to gain so much wealth. That’s impossible.”

“We need about 30 different kinds of fibre a week, which is a lot, because if we think of fibre, we think of vegetables. But how many vegetables do you eat regularly? Maybe 10. But that is quite difficult to find only from vegetables. But there is this system in Japan called Mago Wa Yasashii.

So Mago Wa Yasashii, basically, you consume a lot of beans, a lot of nuts and seeds, a lot of seaweeds, fish, vegetables, mushrooms, and potatoes. Except for fish, they all contain a lot of fibre. You can easily find 30 different kinds of fibre if you use Mago Wa Yasashii.”

“The way I see it, ikigai is a body and mind experience that occurs when participants reflect on it and connect it with certain aspects of their lives. The body is both a natural pre-reflective self and an important medium for reflexivity, therefore, thinking, perceiving, imagining, and feeling ikigai experience are all parts of bodily knowledge.

If we are to study phenomenons like ikigai and its experience, we need to place the body at its centre, because this experience comes from people’s perceptions, orientation and engagement with the world and requires body knowledge to embody and make sense of itself and its interrelated dimensions.”