Ikigai

Illuminating

Beautiful and insightful principles to live a long and happy life. I want to listen to this book all over again, and I’ve only just finished it!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great read!!

Very interesting and insightful. I recommend this book if you are wanting to discover how there are people who have found their flow in life and live quality lives.

small yet meaningful

finished this book in just a few days. will listen again after awhile. great book. only thing unecessary is the physical exercise

interesting and providing food for thought

As some of the previous reviewers mentioned, this book may not provide you with the deepest analysis of every topic it covers. On the other hand it gives you an overview of the Japanese approach to longevity and touches on a few subjects which you are free to explore in greater detail in other sources.
In my view, despite being rooted in the Japanese culture and customs, it does provide a number of very universal ideas which can easily be adopted in Western culture. I found this book interesting and it certainly left some food for thought triggering interest to explore some topics in-depth.

Too shallow to really make a difference

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This book is not bad, but just too shallow and simplistic to make a real difference. Many points the writers make seem to be explained either too little, or seem to be woven into the Japanese culture too much for a member of Western society to be able to adapt it so quickly. For example, the writers tell the listener there is no Japanese word for ''retirement''. How do the writers then expect a Western reader to immediately understand and adapt to the Japanese idea of never retiring when they have grown up with retirement all embedded in their life? There's also a much too optimistic description of how ''every Japanese person has a passion they follow'' and how this keeps them going. Why not tell the reader the whole story, about the crushing pressure the Japanese society holds on people, the pressure to succeed, to get a good job, to behave perfectly and be humble and agreeable and whatnot? Perhaps the people of a 100 years old did not feel this pressure yet in their youth, but the current Japanese society is definitely not as ideal and full of ''passion'' as these writers try to make it seem. This book is written like an unrealistic, idealistic fairytale that just does not hit the right spot. A real shame.

What about Naoko Mori’s performance did you like?

The voice of Naoko was very nice to listen to. It was soft and the Japanese words came out so perfectly, they made a welcome change to the English.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful