The Ikigai Podcast

He built his first “business” at 10 years old by printing an editorial and selling it at school. Years later, after growing up in a rough corner of the UK, Johnny Pavlik is leading global marketing work, scaling international projects in Japan, and helping luxury craft makers reach high-end buyers worldwide. The throughline is not luck or hustle culture. It’s agency, values, and a refusal to stay stuck.

We talk about what pulled him toward Japan in the first place: meeting a Japanese business partner at university, getting fascinated by Japanese culture and collective responsibility, and discovering how mu...

A former would-be astronaut helps a tiny town in Japan teach the world how to live lighter. Yuki Ohata returns with Satoshi Nonoyama, founder and CEO of Pangea, to unpack why Kamikatsu, Tokushima has become a magnet for sustainable tourism, study tours, and corporate learning trips. This conversation is recorded in Japanese with interpretation support, and it’s packed with practical lessons you can steal for your community, your team, or your next trip.

We start with Satoshi’s origin story: a childhood obsession sparked by Mobile Suit Gundam, a formative NASA Space Camp experience, and the long...

The fastest way to lose your edge is to confuse information with wisdom. We sit down with Tokyo-based Japanese calligrapher and author Naoko Omikami to talk about her new book, *Wisdom of the Shoguns: Valuable Life Lessons from Japan’s Greatest Warriors*, and why it’s designed to be read slowly, not binged.

We get practical about the history without turning it into a lecture, clearing up the roles of samurai, shogun, and daimyo, and even the marketing choices that shape a book’s title for global readers. From there, the conversation moves into Japanese aesthetics and meanin...

The world is changing fast, and “just be strong” is not a plan. I’m joined by my good friend, clinical psychologist and author Professor Daiki Kato to share the thinking behind his new book Beyond Myself 8 and the BM8 framework: eight practical psychological powers that help us stay steady, connect deeply, and move forward with purpose when life feels uncertain.

We dig into why non-cognitive skills like resilience, self-efficacy, empathy, and tolerance matter as much as any technical ability, especially in an era shaped by rapid change and emerging AI. Daiki reframes resilience as flexible strength, like b...

A single ignored greeting can sound small until it becomes the daily signal that you do not belong. We talk with Dorothy Dalton, a global HR leader and inclusive workplace champion, about what gender balance looks like when you have lived through normalized sexism, and why so many organizations still fall short on psychological safety and fair treatment.

Dorothy shares how workplace harm has shifted from overt harassment to covert exclusion: being left out of emails, frozen out of meetings, measured against invisible standards, or kept in a constant state of anticipatory threat around redundancy. We dig...

A grandmother stops farming and something quietly disappears: her energy, her rhythm, her reason to get up. That single story becomes the thread that ties everything together as we talk with Yuki Ohata, representative director of Sanchi No Mikata in Shizuoka, about Ikigai as a lived practice instead of a business buzzword. Yuki’s work sits right at the intersection of purpose, Japanese agriculture, and community building, and it offers a surprisingly practical model for rural revitalization. 

We dig into the Irodori leaf-farming approach made famous in Kamikatsu, where elderly farmers collect and ship high-quality leaves used as...

Japan can look easy from the outside: huge buying power, world-class retail, and consumers who love quality. Then you try to sell there and discover the real barrier isn’t your product. It’s trust, context, and the unglamorous work most brands skip.

We sit down with Timothy Connor, CEO of Synnovate, a bilingual and bicultural entrepreneur who has called Tokyo home for more than 30 years. Timothy shares how he went from learning Japanese and working in rural Iwate to building deep expertise in Japan’s distribution system, customer experience, e-commerce, omnichannel retail, and luxury consumer goods. We tal...

On this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, we talk with Olesia Kyrylchuk about what happens to purpose when life gets disrupted, from relocating to Japan after the war in Ukraine to rebuilding belonging through community and work. 

We connect the global engagement slide to a deeper meaning problem and lay out a practical path for HR leaders who want work to feel worth doing.

• Olesia’s move to Japan, cultural adaptation, and carrying home in her heart
• Building new ibasho through community, work, and a Ukrainian playback theatre group
• What playback theatre is and why s...

One Japanese word can change your life. It did for us, and it’s how we met Kumiko Sugiyama, a Japanese language coach, business Japanese trainer, and ICF Associate Certified Coach who blends language learning with coaching, communication skills, and a deep love of Japanese culture.

We talk through Kumiko’s real-world path across sales, parenting, startups, community work, and finally teaching Japanese to executives and engineers. Then we dig into her informal Ikigai survey of 100 people and what it reveals about how Japanese people experience purpose: not as a single “dream job,” but as something felt in daily...

On this episode of The Ikigai Podcast, I talk with Chie Sawa, founder of Thrive Life Design, about why all leaders need a sanctuary to pause and reconnect with themselves. 

We also explore reverse culture shock, the power of co-reflection, and how structured tools like Tarot readings for reflection can create clarity without crossing into therapy. 

We explore:

• Chie’s journey from Japan to the US and back 
• Reverse culture shock and feeling out of place at home 
• Why sociology and women’s rights shaped her path 
• Building Thrive Life Design beyon...

Caitlin Kight returns again to host the Ikigai Podcast to interview Nick on his new book, A Year of Ikigai.

In this episode, Nick shares how Japanese voices, careful cultural research and daily prompts, helped him write a book that the reader can actually use. 

This epsidoe covers: 

• A 365-day reflective journey built around roles, relationships, rituals, contribution, and belonging  
• How this book differs from Western ikigai takes and why Japanese perspective matters  
• What living in Japan and speaking Japanese changes about interpreting Japanese philosophy  
• The messy reality of writing 36...

What if the feeling you’re most afraid of could become your clearest compass? Our conversation with Mae Yoshikawa begins in the hard places—parental divorce, a mother’s early-onset dementia, and the sudden death of a spouse—and unfolds into a practical path for turning pain into insight. Mae introduces Kizuki, the Japanese idea of an awakening moment of clarity, and shows how these flashes can be invited through disciplined attention, safe emotional space, and a deceptively simple journaling practice.

We dig into attention as the currency of consciousness and why so much of our suffering springs...

What if the problem isn’t workload, but identity? We sit down with coach and HR leader Tina Bagwell to explore how many of us let a single role—the job—define who we are, and why that narrow frame leads to exhaustion, disengagement, and a loss of joy. Tina’s journey starts in Okinawa, where simple rituals, community, and omotenashi left a lasting imprint that later shaped her approach to leadership, culture, and coaching.

Across global teams, Tina uses the Ikigai‑9 assessment and the seven needs identified by Dr. Mieko Kamiya to help people reconnect with what truly...

What if the key to better work and wiser leadership isn’t adding more tools but building a bigger vessel? Shigeki Nishimura—author, cross-cultural leadership coach, and former global executive—joins us to introduce Utsuwa, the Japanese concept of inner capacity. Drawing on two decades in Germany and a career bridging Japanese precision with European efficiency, Shigeki shows how a clay tea bowl can rewire your approach to stress, focus, and team culture.

We dive into a powerful triad: ikigai as the engine (purpose), kintsugi as the mechanic (repair), and Utsuwa as the chassis (capacity). Instead of sprint...

Nick celebrates the launch of A Year of Ikigai and read the book’s introduction, separating myth from meaning and showing how purpose lives in daily moments. 

Nick shares why Ikigai is felt more than defined, and how small sources of value build a life worth living.

This episode covers:

• what ikigai means in simple, daily terms
• why popular Western takes miss the point
• the problem with the four-circle Venn diagram
• the kanji roots pointing to protection and beauty
• intrinsic values like hope, growth and social ties
• persona...

A single fall changed everything. When our guest, life coach and digital nomad Kiki Fukai, crashed into a tree on a routine run, she shattered her skull and—unexpectedly—found a new way to live. What followed wasn’t a quick comeback story. It was a careful rebuild guided by kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending with gold, and a daily practice of acceptance that turned constant pain into a steady reminder to live with intention.

We start with the real texture of nomad life: the rush of open itineraries, the buzz of meeting new friends, and the hi...

Anxiety isn’t a malfunction to be silenced; it’s a message asking to be heard. We sit down with therapist and educator Catherine Deeks Gnocchi to rethink fear through the lenses of evolution, mindfulness-based psychotherapy, and Japanese ikigai—revealing how anxiety can guide you back to your values and toward a life that actually fits.

Catherine breaks down the nervous system in plain language: anxiety mobilizes the sympathetic “protect” response, while empathy and connection restore the parasympathetic “recover” state. We trace how early defenses like fawning or avoidance become adult habits, why shame can freeze growth, and how health...

Start with a vision, test it in the dojo, and forge it in a studio where code becomes sculpture. That’s the journey we explore with Tokyo-based French-Spanish artist and independent curator Baptiste Tavenir, whose life bridges Japanese martial arts, musicology, and 3D-printed fine art in ways that feel both unexpected and inevitable.

We talk about the leap that changed everything: leaving a Paris lab for Budo University and discovering that discipline, patience, and community dynamics aren’t just for the mat. Baptiste shares how years of training in tankendo, jukendo, and naginata sharpened his focus and taug...

What if your next trip did more than entertain you—what if it changed you? We sit down with Jake Haupert, founder of the Transformational Travel Council, to unpack how intentional journeys can help you stretch, learn, and grow into new ways of being. Rather than racing through bucket lists, Jake invites us to slow down, clarify our why, and design experiences that align with values, purpose, and community.

We explore a practical framework built on the hero’s journey—departure, initiation, return—and show how it maps onto real travel. You’ll hear how to prepare before you...

What if the words you use could change the way you breathe? We welcome author Saori Okada back to share the heart of her new book, Wisdom of Japan, a collection of 60 concise concepts designed to calm a rushed life and rekindle everyday meaning. Saori opens up about crafting short reflections that still feel true, and the painstaking process of pairing each idea with a ukiyo‑e print so the art deepens the lesson on the page.

We journey through kokoro—the Japanese view of mind, heart, and spirit as one—and how that unity reframes courage, intent...

On episode 118 of the Ikigai Podcast, Katie Anderson and Nick Kemp reflect on a Katies's Japan Leadership Experience - a week in Japan exploring how kaizen, rolefulness, and community design create real leadership growth. 

Katie and Nick share how relationships open doors, purpose fuels energy, and small rituals like greetings change how teams feel and perform.

On this episode we cover:
• connecting hearts and minds through leadership experiences
• how trust-based relationships create rare access in Japan
• kaizen at the gemba and doing things properly
• rolefulness and finding a unique, purpose-fit role
• bei...

Ever study hard and still wonder why it feels empty? We dive into academic yarigai—the lived, situational meaning that makes learning feel worth doing—and map out nine practical factors that turn study from grind to growth. With Dr. Yu Kanazawa, associate professor at Osaka University, we explore how a refined approach, adapted from the Ikigai-9 scale, unites engagement, curiosity, flow, social contribution, and purpose into a single, usable framework.

We walk through each factor—intrinsic fulfillment, curiosity and intellectual stimulation, personal growth, social contribution, engagement and flow, recognition and appreciation, overcoming challenges, real-world relevance, and a sens...

Ever feel like your mind is running the show—and not in a good way? We sat down with clinical psychologist and author Ross White to unpack psychological flexibility, a practical skill that helps you have difficult thoughts and feelings while still taking the actions that matter. Instead of fighting your inner weather, Ross shows how to bend like a tree: anchored in the moment, willing to feel, and empowered by values and purpose.

Ross breaks down his AWE framework—Anchored, Willing, Empowered—and connects it to a vivid tree metaphor: roots for presence, a trunk that sways...

What if the hard road is the honest road—and also the most creative? Neuroscientist and author Ken Mogi joins us to explore how Stoicism and Ikigai converge on a single idea: live in alignment with nature, accept limits with grace, and let difficulty forge depth. We move from the awe of a first butterfly to the precision of a rocket launch, tracing how humility, gratitude, and restraint can transform work, relationships, and personal meaning.

Ken challenges the stereotypes. Stoicism isn’t about shutting down emotion; it’s about seeing clearly and acting accordingly. Creativity thrives under constr...

Meaning doesn’t have to shout to be real. In this conversation with educator and certified life coach Minako Horaguchi, we re-center ikigai where it belongs: in the small daily moments that make life feel worth living—morning coffee in quiet light, a page of honest journaling, the waku waku spark when your heart lifts for no external reason. We unpack why the viral career diagram misses the point for many people and how a Japanese lens invites presence, harmony, and contribution without the pressure to turn joy into a business plan.

Minako shares her path from a ru...

"I believe when I sleep at nighttime I die. Then when I wake up I got a new life." These powerful words from Ai Kihara set the tone for a profound conversation about finding meaning through Japanese wisdom traditions.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Ai brings a unique perspective to mental health practice, drawing from her heritage as a descendant of both spiritual practitioners and samurai. She offers refreshing insights into concepts that have become misunderstood in Western culture—particularly Ikigai. Far from being merely a "dream job" formula as popularized in Western books, authentic Ikigai can be...

What happens when your body can no longer endure the crushing weight of corporate expectations? For Nanako Aramaki, a Japanese-Canadian marketing executive in Tokyo, the answer came through panic attacks, hives, hair loss, and finally, a complete inability to function at work. Diagnosed with "adjustment disorder"—a condition so common in Japan it has its own term—she found herself at a crossroads that would ultimately lead to transformation.

Nanako's story weaves through continents and careers, from her childhood in Canada to her years as a professional flamenco dancer touring Europe, before returning to her birth country of J...

What if work wasn't something we simply endured, but instead became a vibrant source of meaning and purpose? Kensuke Yamamoto, senior consultant at Vanto Group, joins us to challenge the deeply ingrained assumption that work must be an obligation rather than a wellspring of fulfillment.

Against the backdrop of Japan's evolving business landscape—where 99.7% of companies are small and medium enterprises facing unprecedented demographic challenges—Kensuke reveals how the concept of ikigai (life purpose) can transform workplace cultures. Drawing from his experience implementing high-performance initiatives across Japanese organizations, he explores the striking contrast between Western individualistic approaches to j...

What gives meaning to your life when faced with loss and challenge? For Andriana Ubuduki-Kalfa, the answer emerged at her mother's funeral when a Japanese friend approached her about meeting her daughter, saying simply: "she was your mother's ikigai."

This profound moment transformed Andriana's understanding of ikigai beyond the familiar Western interpretation of four overlapping circles. As a Japanese-Greek performance coach with over 30 years of experience bridging cultural differences, Andriana discovered that ikigai can be found in the simplest pleasures—a morning coffee, a dog's greeting—or in profound connections to people and places that sustain us thro...

What if the secret to living longer isn't found in cutting-edge supplements or complex biohacking, but in the timeless wisdom of Japanese rural communities? In this revealing conversation, 63-year-old biohacker and Ikigai Diet expert Sachiaki Takamiya shares groundbreaking findings from the World Longevity Summit held in Kyotango, Japan – a remarkable longevity hotspot with three times more centenarians than the national average.

Forget what you thought you knew about Okinawa. The latest research shows other Japanese regions now lead in longevity statistics, with Kyotango emerging as a living laboratory for understanding what truly contributes to a long, healthy li...

What happens when a successful financial advisor abandons commissions to build an ethical wealth management company? Christopher Tan takes us through his remarkable journey from sleeping on his family's living room floor to founding Provident, a fee-only wealth advisory firm in Singapore that's redefining how financial decisions serve life's most meaningful pursuits.

Chris reveals the formative experiences that shaped his ethical compass: growing up in a humble family where his bus driver father's earnings were stretched by his resourceful mother, developing leadership skills during six years as an army officer, and experiencing a moral awakening when a...

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick welcomes back Daiki Kato to explore their new book on rolefulness—a concept that empowers people to live more intentionally by embracing meaningful roles in everyday life.

Ready to let ikigai rock your world?

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Sunplaza Nakano Kun to explore how his music captures the spirit of ikigai and inspires his fans.

Sunplaza Nakano Kun is a Japanese musician, writer, and singer for the band BAKUFU- SLUMP (爆風スランプ). Beyond his music career, he has also worked as a radio personality and author—a man of many talents.

How can we quiet our minds in a chaotic world?

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Tosei Shinabe about how Zen meditation offers a path to deep contemplation and inner stillness amidst the noise of modern life.

What can a single sip of tea reveal?

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Dairik Amae on how the simple act of drinking tea can become a doorway to stillness.

Shinto, Japan's indigenous religion, is strongly rooted in animism, with Japanese believing that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Shinto does not have a single creator or specific doctrine, and instead exists in a diverse range of local and regional forms emphasising a sacred connection between humans and the natural world.

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Taishi Kato about the deep-rooted significance of Shinto and the ongoing efforts to preserve its rich heritage.

Where is your place to cultivate meaningful connections and personal growth?

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Tomoe Ueyama and Gloria Tam to explore how fourth spaces can help people build authentic relationships and embark on a journey of self-discovery.

How have you handled loss in your life?

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with June Kashio to explore how embracing Ikigai can provide meaning, resilience, and healing during times of loss.

What gives you energy? What is the spark that lights your fire?

In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Katie Sandoe to explore how ikigai can inspire and energize people, helping them rediscover passion and purpose.