The Ikigai Podcast

Епизоди

• Reflecting to Thrive with Chie Sawa 14.04.2026 39мин

  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 s...
• Reflections on A Year Of Ikigai with Nicholas Kemp 06.04.2026 49мин

  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 &nbsp...
• Unlocking Cross-Cultural Communication in Japan with Shohei Yoshida 30.03.2026 42мин
• The Power of Awareness: How Kizuki Moments Transform Our Lives with Mae Yoshikawa 10.03.2026 1ч 1мин

  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 ...
• Aligning Work with Purpose: A Conversation with Tina Bagwell 03.03.2026 52мин

  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 n...
• Expanding Your Inner Capacity: The Utsuwa Philosophy with Shigeki Nishimura 24.02.2026 50мин

  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...
• A Year of Ikigai 17.02.2026 10мин

  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 valu...
• Turning Pain Into a Gift: The Kintsugi Life of Kiki Fukai 10.02.2026 45мин

  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 i...
• Anxiety as a Compass: Exploring Ikigai, Empathy, and Emotional Wellbeing with Catherine Deeks Gnocchi 03.02.2026 48мин

  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 pa...
• Discovering Ikigai Through Art and Martial Arts: A Conversation with Baptiste Tavernier 27.01.2026 41мин

  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...
• The Transformative Power of Travel: Insights from Jake Haupert 15.01.2026 31мин

  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, re...
• Japanese Wisdom for a More Meaningful Life with Saori Okada 23.12.2025 55мин

  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 spi...
• Reflections from the Japan Leadership Experience: Live from Tokyo with Katie Anderson 18.12.2025 43мин

  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 ra...
• Understanding Academic Yarigai with Yu Kanazawa 25.11.2025 56мин

  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 f...
• Understanding Psychological Flexibility: The Key to Emotional Resilience with Ross White 11.11.2025 49мин

  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, Empowere...
• The Shared Wisdom of Stoicism and Ikigai with Ken Mogi 27.10.2025 51мин

  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 ab...
• What Ikigai Really Means: Insights from Japanese Culture with Minako Horaguchi 13.10.2025 41мин

  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 p...
• Applying Japanese Wisdom in Counselling with Ai Kihara 29.09.2025 58мин

  "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—partic...
• The Transformative Effects of Sound Therapy With Nanako Aramaki 15.09.2025 54мин

  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 caree...
• Finding and Feeling Ikigai at Work with Kensuke Yamamoto 01.09.2025 42мин

  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 (lif...