Book Information:
1. Title of Book (Novel) : The Little Book of Ikigai: The Secret Japanese Way to Live a Happy and Long Life
2. Author : Ken Mogi
3. Genre : Non-fiction & selfhelp
4. Publisher : PT Mizan Publika
5. Copy right year : 2017
6. Number of Page :126
Part I
1.1 Introduction
The book of Ikigai is a non fiction book written by Ken Mogi. He has published more than 30 papers on cognitive and neurosciences, and over 100 books in Japan covering popular science, essay, criticism and self-help. His books have sold close to 1 million copies. Meanwhile, this book first released on 2017 the total of page are 126 pages and also 10 chapter on it. Ken Mogi identifies five key pillars to Ikigai. Pillar 1: Starting small, Pillar 2: Releasing yourself, Pillar 3:Harmony and Sustainability, Pillar 4:The joy of little things, and Pillar 5: Being in the here and now. Every part of this book is related with five pillars and there are some example that related in daily life.
1.2 Summary of Each chapter ( Book)
Chapter I - The Meaning of Ikigai
The first chapter of this book is describe about Ikigai itself. So, Ikigai is a Japanese term to explain happiness and the meaning of life. A combination of Japanese word “Iki” (生き) which is means “life” and “gai” (甲斐)itself which is used to describe value or worth. We can take the conclude from those words that Ikigai is about finding a purpose and joy of life. In Japanese, Ikigai can be used in various contexts either applied to enjoy the life started from little things. The Ikigai can be found and grow in yourself secretly until one day the Ikigai will give an origin result.
Chapter II – Reason of You Get Up in The Morning
Ikigai is defined as one’s “reason for which you wake up in the morning”, which can be interpreted as your purpose in life. Another reason why the Japanese like to wake up early is according to the country's economic history. The ethos of waking up early in the morning has been ingrained in the culture of Japanese society, because various hormonal arrangements in the brain are known to be in sync with the solar procession, so it makes sense to live in harmony with the sun.
Chapter III – Kodawari and The Advantages of Small Thinking
Between the Five Pillars of Ikigai, kodawari is related with the first pillar, to initiate with small things, without the need to justify efforts for any big schemes. Kodawari is a personal standard that is obeyed to by an individual very firmly. Kodawari is often used as a reference to the level of quality or professionalism held by an individual. Kodawari is closely related to the first of the five pillars of Ikigai: starting small. In his description of kodawari, he talks about starting small, and executing each step to perfection.
Chapter VI - The Sensory Beauty of Ikigai
In this chapter the author writes about Japan has uniqueness in language. In Japanese, there are expressions as sound symbolism, which are often formed from one word that is pronounced twice. For example, bura bura (walking casually and indifferently), kira kira (a sparkling light), ton ton (referring to a faint knock) or don don (heavy thud). Those symbolism are usually called onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia reflected how important detailed sensory atmosphere in Japanese life. This attention to detail has cultivated culture in which craftsmen were always honored, in an era when the wave of innovation promises to change our live.
Chapter V – Flow and Creativity
“Make music, even when nobody is listening; draw a picture, when nobody is watching; write a short story that no one will read”.
That quote is related with this chapter which talk about flow. So, flow is the situation when you have to let your ego, it is the infinite accumulation of the elements involved in work that is important. When you are in flow condition, you are free from your own burdens and you will see the quality of your work. This chapter has connection with the second pillar of Ikigai, releasing yourself.
Chapter VI - Ikigai and Sustainability
Japan is a sustainable country. Sustainability does not apply only on the connection between humans and nature, but also on variety individual activities in a social context. Japanese culture has many customs and institutions to running Ikigai as an engine for sustainability. For example, there’s one of Japan’s most sacred sites the name is Ise Shrine or Ise Jingu. Every twenty years, the shrine was demolished carefully, and a new building with a structure exactly the same was built in the new location, using the newly acquired wood.
Chapter VII - Finding Your Purpose in Life
Biologically, finding ikigai in an environment, or even, in any environment, can be viewed as a form of adaptation, especially in the context of mental health. In any environment, it is basically possible to have ikigai — a reason for living— no matter what a person's performance is. You can find Ikigai by your own way.
Chapter VIII - What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
As we know, Japan has been struck by a series catastrophes such as tsunami on 2011, volcanic eruptions, and the worst tragedy when the bombings of Tokyo during the Second World War. One of the benefits of having Ikigai is robustness and resilience — both strengths that are very necessary when tragedy occurs. From those tragedy people in Japan became stronger to deal with many problems and have capability to find the solution.
Chapter IX - Ikigai and Happiness
In this chapter the author writes about another Japanese concept, we can call it Datsusara. What is Datsusara? So, Datsusara is the phenomenon in which salaried workers decide to leave their job to launch their own business and pursue their passions. In other words, to follow their Ikigai or decided to reach their happiness in different way and enjoying their life by did something that they like. This chapter links to one of the five pillars of Ikigai: the joy of small things.
Chapter X - Accept Yourself for Who You Are
This is the last chapter of this book. The author concludes that the greatest secret of ikigai and happiness is the acceptance of the self. The Japanese proverb Junin Toiro which means "10 different colours for 10 different people” exemplifies this view. We are all different and unique. Only by truly accepting who we are, we can be find our own Ikigai. You can be yourself, whatever you want.
Conclusion - Find Your Own Ikigai
In this chapter, you’ll see some questions involved with Ikigai like,
“Do you have some insight that would help you sort out the problems in life? and "Are you more inclined now to try things, by small steps, while not necessarily seeking immediate external rewards?"
And there’s a message from the author that he hopes this book could give you inspiration to try something new in your life, how to find your own happiness from small things. Even though the progress is not that easy you can try it slowly but sure. You can live longer, have good health, and become happier, more satisfied, and less stressed when you having Ikigai in your life.
Part II
2.1 Evaluation/Analysis
Perhaps, some of people have heard about Ikigai, but they didn’t understand what is the meaning of Ikigai? Or they didn’t know exactly, how to apply the Ikigai in their daily life? So, that’s why this book is exist. The Little Book of Ikigai teaches me how to find the purpose of life by doing something new, how to manage our time, and it's rich in history and facts about Japan and its culture, which are interesting to read about, but it deviates from the purpose set out in the beginning.
The author—Ken Mogi give us such a detailed and intricate insight about Japanese history and culture in this book. All of the examples he uses are deeply rooted in Japanese culture from sumo wrestling to Comiket, a Japanese comic book convention. It gives us more knowledge about Japanese culture, tradition, customs, and many more. Furthermore, Ken Mogi is a very down to the earth life-loving neuroscientist, researcher, university lecturer, author, broadcaster and media commentator. That’s why he seems well qualified to write this book.
This book is easy enough to understand, but I find there are some explanation are not structured systematically.
My favorite part of this book when we author explain about kodawari and datsusara. These two things teach me how to start something began from small thinking and give attention in every single detail accompanied strong commitment to make good decisions. Meanwhile, datsusara give me lesson, I should find my passion or do something pleasurable for my life.
The cover of this book is simple but aesthetic. Although, this book has only one illustrations, it doesn’t makes me get bored because the Ikigai itself is a fascinating subject, and we have much to learn from the Japanese.
2.2 Conclusion
I highly recommended this book. I enjoyed the contemporary examples like stories of chefs, craftspeople and sumo wrestlers. You should read it, especially for people who are really want to know more about principles of Japanese's life.
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