The Ikigai Podcast

On episode 54 of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Natasha Randall about how technology can support people in feeling more ikigai in their lives.Natasha Randall is a Ph.D. candidate in the Informatics Department at Indiana University. Her work focuses on human-robot interaction, specifically consumer-oriented social home robot design where she fuses elements of design, user experience, and market research. Her interest lies in applying a strategic design approach to use cases meant for individual growth or social good, such as applications for improving mental health, social isolation, nutrition, habit information, and education. Additionally, she’s interested in how personal robots can be used to teach foreign languages, especially within the home.

On episode 53  of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Kiku Day about the beneficial aspects of playing the shakuhachi and how it is more than just a musical instrument. Kiku Day is a shakuhachi player, a Ph.D. ethnomusicologist, and a world traveller from Copenhagen, Denmark. Her work lies at the intersections of performance of traditional shakuhachi music, contemporary music and improvisation, ethnomusicology, history, politics, meditation, and writing. She studied shakuhachi with Okuda Atsuya, one of the foremost performers of jinashi shakuhachi, in Tokyo, Japan for 11 years before returning to Europe to study ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Kuki is also a founding member of the European Shakuhachi Society (ESS) for which she served as a chairperson from 2009-2019. She is dedicated to performing on jinashi shakuhachi, both honkyoku and contemporary music, and also teaches the shakuhachi online.

Benjamin Boas is an American author, translator, and contemporary Japanese culture consultant. He is both the Cool Japan Ambassador for the Japanese government and a Tourism Ambassador for the Nakano ward in Tokyo. He is the author of From Cool Japan to Your Japan and two other Japanese-language books about intercultural education and has written for Studio Ghibli, The Japan Times, and many other publications.On episode 52 of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Benjamin Boas about the global visibility of Japan’s unique culture.

On episode 51 of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Jennifer Shinkai about being one and included in Japanese society.Jennifer Shinkai is a facilitator and executive coach living in Japan. Originally from the UK, Jennifer holds an MA (Oxon) in English Language and Literature from St. Hugh's College, Oxford University. She is an ICF Associate certified coach, Points of You® Expert, and Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching ORSC® Practitioner, and coaches individuals and corporate groups around their ikigai. She also has her own podcast and YouTube channel, “Ikigai with Jennifer Shinkai.”

On episode 50 of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Rie Takeda on her recently published book about shodo and how people can practise the art of shodo with the use of 10 fascinating Japanese words.Rie Takeda is a freelance artist and a professional calligrapher; she has been practising shodo since the age of five, under the creative supervision of her grandmother, a distinguished Gayu calligraphy artist. Rie teaches shodo in various countries, including the UK, Switzerland, and Germany. She produces Neo-Japonism paintings, calligraphy works, washi paper and vintage Kimono collages, illustrations, and works in body art. Rie was also a guest on episode 32 of the Ikigai Podcast, where she talked about Mindfulness Calligraphy.

On episode 49 of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Carly Taylor about the positive results of applying Japanese psychology in our lives.Carly Taylor is trained and experienced in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Japanese psychology (Morita Therapy and Naikan); she is a University qualified nutritionist, personal trainer, and a health coach with over 10 years experience in the area of behaviour change. Her coaching covers all domains of life: mindset, nutrition, movement, and sleep; it is centred around living a life based on values and purpose as opposed to a life dictated by thoughts and emotions.

On episode 48 of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Dr. Clark Chilson about naikan and how it can help people develop their ikigai.Do you contemplate the good things that happen in your life? Sometimes, we tend to focus on the negative aspects of our lives, and we forget to acknowledge the good things that occur around us.In Japan, they have a self-reflective form of meditation called naikan; this method helps people realise what they have caused others (both good and bad). Can this practice of naikan help us feel more ikigai in our lives?

Is rolefulness essential to ikigai?Although we might not be aware of it, our roles may impact our well-being. We may have many roles in our lives, each with its own significance and impact – on people around us and on us as individuals. These roles give us a sense of fulfilment that leads to a feeling of ikigai. On episode 47 of The Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Professor Daiki Kato to explore the importance of roles in perceiving ikigai in our lives.

On episode 46 of The Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Steve Beauchamp about how people can integrate Bushido into their lives. When we hear the term Bushido, we imagine the Japanese samurai and think of it as something related to martial arts. But the principle of Bushido can actually be applied to some aspects of our lives and help us gain continuous improvement.

On episode 45 of The Ikigai Podcast, guest host Dr. Caitlin Kight speaks with Nick Kemp about his recently published book Ikigai-kan.After years of living in Japan and having a meaningful connection with its people, Nick developed a fondness for Japan and its culture. Seeing Japanese concepts, particularly ikigai, being misinterpreted in the West as a Venn diagram makes him uncomfortable as he knows that the idea of ikigai is more than that. With that, he wants to give justice to this concept -- make people understand and appreciate its authentic beauty that is true to the Japanese culture.