IKIGAI : The Japanese Secret to a Long & Happy Life.

Having a clearly defined ikigai brings satisfaction, happiness, and meaning to our lives. The purpose of this session is to help you find yours, and to share insights from Japanese philosophy on the lasting health of body, mind, and spirit. One surprising thing you notice, living in Japan, is how active people remain after they retire. In fact, many Japanese people never really retire—they keep doing what they love for as long as their health allows. There is, in fact, no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense of “leaving the workforce for good” as in English. According to Dan Buettner, a National Geographic reporter who knows the country well, having a purpose in life is so important in Japanese culture that our idea of retirement simply doesn’t exist there.