The Ikigai Podcast
The Ikigai Podcast
What Ikigai Really Means: Insights from Japanese Culture with Minako Horaguchi
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 rural childhood in Takayama to teaching, entrepreneurship, and coaching in San Francisco, and how midlife uncertainty led her to a simple but powerful practice: writing a vivid five-year vision and taking tiny aligned actions. We dig into the difference between purpose and ikigai—purpose as your long why and roles as the way it shows up—while ikigai includes small, immediate sources of meaning that grow with you. As AI reshapes work, this inner clarity and social attunement become essential, helping you navigate change with grounded self-worth.
Harmony threads through the entire episode. Drawing on Japanese cultural roots—from rice-farming cooperation to everyday respect—Minako explains how listening before judging conserves energy, reduces conflict, and keeps you focused on what matters. We explore how the seasons model healthy rhythms of action and rest, and how sustainability turns personal meaning into community impact. Expect practical takeaways: ten-minute daily reflection (voice notes if you dislike writing), the tree metaphor for nurturing your “ikigai seed,” and simple ways to practice curiosity in tough conversations.
If you’re tired of equating meaning with achievement and you’re ready to build a life that feels good from the inside out, this one’s for you. Subscribe for more grounded conversations on purpose, share the episode with a friend who needs a gentle reset, and leave a review to help others find the show.
Just remind yourself about harmony. That means create space to listen to others. You don't have to accept all the differences, but at least just understand the differences. And that's create peace. When you're in a peace environment, you can focus on what's important to you.
SPEAKER_01:My guest today on the Ikigai podcast is Manako Huraguchi, an educator, certified life coach, and NLP practitioner guiding people through Ikigai-based transformation. Minako, you were born and raised in the peaceful countryside of Takeyama, Japan, where simplicity, nature, and deep connection were parts of everyday life. Those early values shaped your work and the way you see the world today. You currently live in San Francisco with your husband and two children. Welcome to the podcast, Minako.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01:My pleasure. I found you by stumbling on your post on Ikiguy on LinkedIn, and I'm glad I did. You recently started a newsletter called The Art of Ikiguy, and I signed up, and I've been enjoying reading that newsletter. So, do you want to give us a bit of background and how did you end up living in the US?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, thank you for uh connecting with me. So, as you mentioned, I was born and raised in Takayama Gifu in Japan. Uh, that's the center of Japan, and it's a really rural area, but peaceful and beautiful. And then we are located next to Japan North Alpus. And then I grew up in the house surrounded by a mountain, and my parents have a kind of big garden and then rice party, and that's where my parents spend after work and then weekends, and now they're retired, so they spend most of the time there. And then as a child, I was just following them around, and then sometimes I help, but most of the time I was just like digging a hole and then catching the butterflies or frogs and brickets. That's how I grew up, and that's my route. Then I became a teacher, and I found my passion to help students to get to where they want to be, and I was really enjoying observing students, how they grow and where they become, and that passion became bigger, and I started my own school. That kind of taught me, wow, living Ikigai, living purposeful life is so rich. I loved it. Then I got married to my husband, who I met in Japan, and he's American, so we moved to the US, and then I have two children. They're 13 and 11 right now, and we live in California right now. Four years ago, I became Ikigai Life Coach, certified life coach, and an LP practitioner. Since then, my purpose is spreading Japanese authentic ikigai and helping people to identify their unique self and bring that into purposeful living.
SPEAKER_01:Wonderful. We actually share a similar career arc because I did teaching and I started my own language school in Japan. And then really enjoyed that, really enjoyed the idea of sharing knowledge and helping others grow. And so that eventually led to what I do now. So yeah, you've been a personal coach for three and a half years, and from what I understand, you're focusing your coaching more on Ikigai. Is this something you've always done or has it been an evolution?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, as you said, it's a totally evolution. I didn't mean to coach people, but looking back, I was definitely coaching my students. But after the certification, I learned more psychology and neural science and how our body, mind, soul are connected and work together. So my approach has changed a little bit, got a little more deeper, but I was definitely oaching uh in the past, and it's kind of evolving.
SPEAKER_01:I do think Ikigai coaching will become more important as we move into this world of AI, where not just goals, but meaning, purpose, sense of self, sense of self-worth will begin to matter more. Our individuality will probably matter more because we're going to be restricted on maybe what we can do as AI seems to be taking over a lot of jobs, roles, and whatnot.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I totally see that.
SPEAKER_01:So I think we're looking for more meaning and purpose, not just success-based coaching. So, with that, how do you define ikigai?
SPEAKER_00:I'll try my best to explain that as simple as possible. Ikigai is a combination of two words, one uh iki to live and igai worth living. When I ask myself a question like what makes life worth living, it's really hard to uh find the answer. It's kind of big. But when I shift the question more towards my feeling, how does it feel to have a sense that life is worth living? Then oh, I feel joy, I feel excitement, that waku waku. My heart is dancing and sparkling, and I feel fulfilled, and I feel connection and love. Those moments I feel like I'm glad I'm living, I'm alive. So ikigai is like a collection of those little moments of happiness or joy of this beautiful feeling. And then you kind of receive all of the feeling and then just appreciate that comes to you. It's like a gift. That's just like horror of ikigai, I think. And then if you do more things that serve you, makes you feel good, and then keep doing it, and then that ikigai kind of starts to be more visible and then grow, and then you start to share, and they just continually grow into something really big.
SPEAKER_01:It's an interesting question, like how do you define ikigai? Because the simple answer could be, oh, it's you know what makes your life feel worth living. But then it's very multidimensional, and as you said, it comes with this personal energy of waku waku, small joys, sense of purpose, connection to others. I like to refer to it as Japan's word for positive psychology, but it is a fascinating word, and there is obviously this Japanese angle or lens to it where the focus is also on these smaller things, which I think we miss in the West. As you know, it's become very popular outside of Japan, and there is this Western interpretation that's gone viral. The Venn diagram you've probably seen. Do you remember seeing that for the first time as Ikiguy and how you felt? Yes.
SPEAKER_00:I thought that was brilliant. I really loved it. I I got so fired up, like, whoa, this is so simple and clear, and I'm gonna dive into this. That's the first time when I saw the diagram. But more and more I learned ikigai, and then I noticed that this uh ikigai diagram is more career focused and success, like purpose, something like really big. And Japanese authentic ikigai start from really, really small, and you focus on your feeling, what makes you feel good, and then comes with daily action and enjoy the moment and then appreciate it. So it's just like a difference, I've noticed.
SPEAKER_01:Maybe we should highlight the differences. So, what are some of the differences between Japanese Ikigai and the West's interpretation?
SPEAKER_00:So one is Western style is more career, purpose, and success, and the Japan is more like daily meaning and inner joy, so internal versus external. And then another thing is the size is really small. You know, I saw a sunset. That can be your ikigai. Go to the top of the mountain and see the sunset. This is my ikigai. You know, it's really small and then very simple joy. Yet uh Western style is kind of a big goal and achieving something and impacting something big. I think another thing I can think of is more connection, community, and sharing what you love and what you enjoy versus more productivity and ambition and more individuality.
SPEAKER_01:There we go. It's very different how it's interpreted, and there is this sense in Japan, it's not something you chase, it's something you feel and live daily. Whereas, as you've mentioned in the West, it is this goal almost to achieve. So, yeah, what are your thoughts on that? Do you think it's a little bit unhealthy to play Sikigai as something so ambitious?
SPEAKER_00:I like that. Dream a bit and then achieve that, and then it's really so much energy. So I really like that, but the same time I get a lot of messages, like people message, say, I'm 40, and then I'm trying to find ikigai. But with this joy, how can I make money with it? How can I make a living and support my family? Or like what is my purpose? So it's just because the ikigai meaning what uh is kind of big and external and kind of out of reach, so sometimes that's overwhelming and then confuse people and really struggling to find one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it becomes heavy.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:And uh comes with a sense of pressure, which really is the opposite of ikigans, something that's life-affirming and as you said, waku waku gives you this energy and it's often best experienced when you share it with someone, your family, friends, so there's a social dynamic. I guess the beauty of it it is subjective, so it can be something related to work or not related to work, to your hobbies, can be something small. A lot of Japanese often say that they're coffee in the morning or their me time, their time alone, yeah, or just spending time with their pet. But then even Ken Moggy says it can be a life-defining goal, just as long as there's the intrinsic motivation, that element where you're pursuing the goal because you just want to, and there's no overfocus on the outcome. It's the process, the journey, the growth. But I think in the West we miss the small stuff.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm. Yes, it's like growth, so your ikigai growth so much. You gotta keep going. You wanna keep your curiosity and your desire to keep working towards it, and you just want to share. It's just coming from inside.
SPEAKER_01:It does come from inside. Growth is one of the ikigai needs that Mirk or Kamiya talks about. So I think that's crucial. Finding something that helps you grow, helps you step outside your comfort zone. And then, as you mentioned, you want to share it. So there's that social element. And it does give you a sense of purpose, but it is different to purpose. And you write about this. So, how would you define purpose in a Japanese context? And how is it different to Ikigai?
SPEAKER_00:The purpose, it's your why, right? Like why you do what you do, and why you create what you create, and why this exists, and why I exist. It's kind of like touch your value and core value, like what's really matter to you. And then another definition of a purpose is we often get kind of confused mixed with goal, but purpose is just like a long journey. It's like ongoing, there's no end, just keep going. And then purpose is like something beyond your own needs. As you mentioned, you start to share with people and then contribute to others, your community, or to the world. Ikigai is not only purpose. Your small ikigai has huge potential to grow into your purpose.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I often associate ikigai to r role rather than goals. And we have multiple roles, parent role, professional role. Even our friendship is kind of a role. We might behave slightly differently depending on the friends we spend our time with, and we play a role for our friends, we look after them, we share. So I would definitely relate the purpose aspect of Iki Guy to role as well. And it is this aspect of it goes beyond goals, and it's it's bigger than yourself, and maybe that's how you contribute to purpose through role. But as you note on your website, Minako, you wrote, entering midlife wasn't easy. Parenting, trying to balance work and family, navigating health challenges, and not knowing which direction to take. I often felt overwhelmed and scared to try a new path, and you got stuck. So I think, yeah, we have these demands of roles, we have I guess getting old is not always easier, even though we're we're both still relatively young. And we often don't know what to do or what direction to take. But I think this experience, all these experiences help us as coaches. So, how did you overcome these unchallenges and get unstuck?
SPEAKER_00:So I remember I was like, as you say, I didn't know what to do, but I was missing Ikigai a lot. But again, yeah, I didn't know what to do. But one day I was listening to a podcast. Her name is Rachel Hollis, and she's a motivational speaker, I think, support woman. And then she said one thing write down your dream life in five years from now. Be really specific and write down how you want to feel too. And I was like, oh, that's a good idea. I love journaling, so I start journaling. Like, okay, in five years, I live on a hill with a big window, and I feel the sun, I see the sunset every night, and I have two dogs, I have a little garden outside, and I pick up vegetables that I grow. I serve my friends, family, and we get together and then drink beer, laugh, talk, and I have this trusted relationship with my daughter. I have a supportive relationship with my husband, and then work. I want to create an environment that I can work anywhere from the world. And I travel and I want to feel grateful every day, and I want to feel fulfilled every day. And that's I wrote down, and it wasn't easy at first because I was living in a really narrow world, being the mother and working, so it took me a while, but uh when I wrote all the kind of dream, I felt really good. I opened up and I felt like I say hope. And then I kinda start applying one thing that aligned with the feeling or the thing that I want to get. I still remember I felt completely differently, even though I just did little tiny thing, but I learned that in living intentionally every day, and then in alignment with what mattered to me, and alignment with my value and the feeling that I want to feel is crucial and it's really good for me. And then I felt I become a better version of myself, just one little tiny thing. And then I was kinder to others, and I was more in a good mood. So that's like first awareness, and I really felt it, and I just kept doing it. And then it took me to the place where I became um life coach.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. It almost sounds like you identified the Yikigai sources you wanted for your future, and then once you started to make these small steps or progress to feeling them or experiencing them, it gave you that personal energy to keep going because it was so emotionally fulfilling. So it was almost like you were icky guy life planning, but not maybe realizing it at the time.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, totally, yes. Everything is just like looking back, and I was like, oh, that's what I was doing.
SPEAKER_01:Well done. So now you can impart that wisdom to your clients. So if you do have some advice for our listeners, how can our listeners start to uncover or find their ikigai?
SPEAKER_00:So I like to use tree as a metaphor. Tree is us, right? Our trees are all different and unique, and we're like keep growing. And then we have the seed of uh ikigai, and that's potentially become such a beautiful big purpose. I believe we all have this inside of us, and some of the people, the seed is still under the ground and it's invisible. So, first step um I say is just acknowledge it's there and then learn about the seed. So just 10 minutes every day, spend time with yourself, either journaling or record your speech and listen to yourself later. And just ask yourself, what do you want in five years? What your dream life looks like, what kind of relationship you want with your family, partner, friend? And then also you can go back to your past. When is your last time you felt joy, happiness, fulfillment, and wakka wakku? Your heart was dancing, and who are with you? What were you doing? And then you can bring yourself to present state that who are you craving for meeting today? What are you craving for doing today? And so that you can just acknowledge that, oh my ikigai, my potential small seed is here, and then how to keep your seed alive, what you need to do to nurture the seed. Second thing is just taking action, right? Start nurturing the seed and just feel the joy. Allow yourself to feel. Just be patient with yourself because our mind and the body are so attached to how fast we can get things done, how big impact we can produce, and how much result we can get in a day. But Ikai living is nothing to do with it. Just allow yourself to enjoy each process and appreciate the gift that you receive. Sometimes things don't go well and you feel like your failure. But again, uh that's your learning what's working to grow your seed, what's not working to grow your seed. And then you can still appreciate the gift of learning. Uh, I say just be patient, keep nurturing yourself every day. And then lastly, just be kind, be kind to yourself, and then don't judge yourself. Again, we criticize ourselves and then we are so hard on ourselves and constantly, you know, comparing to other trees. Whose tree is bigger? Whose tree is growing faster? Whose tree is more beautiful? Whose tree has more crops and whose tree has more bars around it? And that's take um joy away from us. And sometimes take our confidence away from us and who's our iki guy, what's important to you? What's matter to you? What makes you feel alive? We lose sense of that. We're not perfect, right? And then that brings us very unique. And then that creates like unique purpose, and then that person can only bring the unique purpose to the world. So just enjoy the beauty of not being perfect and celebrate that we're human.
SPEAKER_01:We are human, yes. I love the advice. I really love the advice of journaling. I think it's really important because you you have to have this time alone to identify what matters to you, what you want to do, what you're feeling, and create space to get your thoughts out. But I like your idea of an alternative to writing, to use audio, because I know a lot of people don't like writing. So that's a really good idea. I guess you could just use your iPhone and record memos every day. And then you could go back to them and listen and see how you've changed or what your thoughts are. So I think that's crucial. That gives us awareness. And I do like this idea of self-compassion and self-kindness. It's very unhealthy to compare ourselves to others thinking we understand them. We we only have a perception. And so it's just not healthy to compare yourself. Think, oh, that tree is bigger than me, or it's more flexible, or has better grass or better foundation. None of that ultimately helps. When we're talking about sources of Ikigai, there is this idea of contribution, and I think one of the ways you are contributing at the moment is through your newsletter. So do you want to touch on that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, my newsletter is called Art of Life, and I just started maybe two months ago. It's pretty new, and I just wanted to share the authentic Japanese Ikigai. So there is Japanese culture and tradition, and also reflective questions and tools that might help others. And also there's um invitation to the pre-consultation and uh event and workshop. So if anyone is interested in your own unique Ikigai journey, please subscribe my um newsletter.
SPEAKER_01:Awesome. We'll link to your newsletter, and I do recommend people reading it. Even today, I read your recent one and thought, oh, we should probably touch on that on today's episode. So we'll talk about that later. But yeah, this idea of contributing, sharing Ikigai was probably what drove me to start this podcast. So there is a real joy in learning, but also sharing what you learn. That's awesome. So congratulations on starting that. It's it's not easy. You have to spend time and think of each theme and write it. That's where the self-love comes in, yeah? You've got to be easy on yourself to put all this content out there.
SPEAKER_00:Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And someone I think we're both fans of is Ken Moggy. So he's a writer, and you quote him in your newsletter. And he says, Ikigai is not necessarily something grand. It can be something very small in your everyday life, like having a morning coffee, watching the sunrise. It grows and accumulates, becoming something larger. So I think that really encapsulates everything we've been talking about. Ken's a lot of fun. He's such an inspiring, unique person. And as I was sharing with you before, he's just released a book on stoicism. So he's tying Japanese culture to stoicism. That's a great uh aspect of Japanese culture too. I was thinking the other day in the West we have this tendency to talk about ideas and almost with a sense of pride, self-reliance, and be the best version of yourself and achieve your goals. But in Japanese culture, you have all these words that are very common gaman, gambadu, and you don't really talk them up. So there's no culture of talking things up and being proud, overly proud about a word or a concept. But in the West, we do have this tendency to talk things up and say, I'm gonna do this or I've achieved this. And it's really refreshing. It's really taught me a lot. I used to be young and ambitious and want to share everything, and now I'm don't really do that as much because I think oh, it's it's less.
SPEAKER_00:It's yeah, it's just very different culture. Really fascinating to learn a both culture. There's always a good side and negative side, but it's just always helpful that you understand both culture.
SPEAKER_01:Have you found that you've got this nice balance of both in your life?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's a good question. Yes, it's waving into together, but I had a struggle uh when I moved to US. I kind of lost a sense of identity because, like, am I American? No, I'm not. But I'm not fully Japanese anymore. Then like who I am. But as I said, it's not like A or B. Every part of us are waved into as a whole, as a human and beautiful, unique um human being. Learning about that was really healing. At the same time, I felt confident, this is me. This is me. It's okay. This is unique self.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's almost like this harmony which will. probably touch on now, but I think that's the benefit when you live overseas. You learn there's initial resistance. I mean there's obviously this appeal and attraction and excitement. But then after a while there is this areas of your life where there is a bit of uh friction or conflict or trouble adjusting and then sense of identity comes into question. And then I think over time that gets easier and then you start to realize oh I now I kind of like this person of two cultures. One I was born in and grew up in and this other where I've evolved and grown as a person. This harmony of both shapes you and you become a fuller person I guess. So you also write about Ikigai and harmony which I thought was fascinating and I hadn't thought about it like that. But harmony is a really valued virtue or concept in Japan. So do you want to touch on the importance of harmony in Japan?
SPEAKER_00:It's coming from long time ago where we depend on the rice, that's how we survive and then to grow rice we have to deal with the weather and the season. So understand the different weather and accept the weather and be with crop like create harmony with the nature and then to be able to harvest the rice we have to work together help each other. So harmony is crucial to work together so that we can survive. But then that whole concept is still visible in our corporate teamwork and also local communities and then even natural disaster it happens a lot in Japan but we are still calm and help each other and then make sure your neighbor is okay.
SPEAKER_01:Yes I think in natural disasters in Japan there's never any looting seems to be no crime or violence there is this acceptance of what's happened and then the community comes together to help each other.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Every time the Olympics come around Japan's famous for the way spectators behave and even players behave you always hear the same story that the Japanese spectators have cleaned up after themselves and then the soccer teams or the whatever teams have left their rooms spotlessly clean. So that seems very relatable to harmony that's coming from respect. Yeah respect others respect nature respect surroundings that ties into harmony I think to have harmony you must respect others and play your role that's something I've learned in Japan less focus on me my needs the individual and think of others and how you can contribute or work towards reaching harmony and Fariki guy you believe harmony is essential to maintain so do you want to expand on that if we lose the harmony it's just conflict and then hunger frustration stress and tiredness this emotion comes up and that's draining that's drain your energy and that's sometimes stop you nurturing your ikigai and then sometimes people kind of become unhealthy and get sick by that so just remind yourself about harmony that means create space to listen to others.
SPEAKER_00:You don't have to accept all the differences but at least just understand the differences and that creates peace. When you're in a peace environment you can focus on what's important to you and if your focus is drained to conflict and this negative emotion that's a destruction so this harmony and peace and kindness to others kindness to yourself kindness to others that makes things more sustainable I love it I'm always seeking more harmony in my life I'll just mention one thing from your newsletter was harmony with nature and that's something I think we've fallen out of as humans we don't connect enough with nature do you want to touch on harmony with nature a little more harmony with nature I see two things there's four season especially where I grew up in Japan there's four season every season has a different beauty and then different times summer is more people active work or do things and more outgoing and then winter time it's more slow down and then just sometimes hibernates and teaches us it's okay sometimes your life is slowing down and it's kind of quiet. And then summer comes so you can get up and keep going just be with nature always gives us some lessons it's uh healing to us too and then another thing about harmony with nature is this might be a big topic but this global warming is real. So just appreciate where we are and make peace with nature not about your self selfishness and create harmony with nature for the next generation too does seem to be this denial of global warming but Japan the last three four years their summers have been unbearable and incredibly long.
SPEAKER_01:I used to love summer in Japan like 20 years ago now it's sort of very hard to enjoy it's so humid and hot. So that's a real thing. And we can be self-centered you know we we might think beyond ourselves and consider family and others but I think you're right we should also consider future generations what are we leaving yeah it's psychology how this action impacts to this person to the nature to the society to the country so you can always check in with yourself what you say what you do how this affects to surroundings love it it's almost like an ikigai way of thinking obviously you can have personal ikigai actually there are ikigai advisors in Japan and so they have three types of ikigai personal relational so relationships and sort of a societal way of thinking how are you contributing so that can extend beyond your own life what am I leaving behind? How am I helping for a sustainable future and yeah Ken Moggy talks about that too harmony sustainability is one of his pillars of ikigai this idea of harmony might sound a little unfamiliar like in a daily context so do you have any advice on how we can create more harmony in our daily living try to understand other people and yourself because without understanding the person or yourself and we just automatically judge others.
SPEAKER_00:As a human we like familiarity if it's different you just want to react to judgment but just create space and listen to others without bringing your own value just listen and then understand what this person's value is what this person needs and then you go from there. Love it I think that is our biggest challenge the tendency to automatically judge rather than question with playful curiosity or interest right yeah that's so true yeah bring your curiosity to understand the person in front of you or things around you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah it's almost asking how can I harmonize rather than point out differences or state the obvious how can I learn more and on that theme if people want to learn more about your work Minako where can they go? I have a website it's uh myikigai.me and you can also email me my email is minako at myikigai.me awesome all right so we'll link to your website and recommend people sign up to your newsletter and as you said if people want to have a chat to you you offer a complimentary discovery call I guess yeah so let's end with more ikigai sources so what are some of your daily ikigai sources get up early in the morning having my quiet time and journaling with coffee that's my joy we probably call it ikigai journaling yeah it's beautiful well I wish you much success with your newsletter and hope this uh podcast helps you get some exposure and I'm looking forward to our continued friendship now I guess we're ikigai friends so thank you so much for joining me on the podcast me Nicole yeah thank you so much for having me and it was such a great experience and you know sharing the thoughts and talk about our passion for ikigai absolutely and who knows we might be collaborating on something and and hopefully I'll get to the US soon and we could do something together.