The Ikigai Podcast
Episodes
130 episodes
Reflecting to Thrive with Chie Sawa
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-refle...
Reflections on A Year Of Ikigai with Nicholas Kemp
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 tha...
The Power of Awareness: How Kizuki Moments Transform Our Lives with Mae Yoshikawa
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 p...
Aligning Work with Purpose: A Conversation with Tina Bagwell
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 ...
Expanding Your Inner Capacity: The Utsuwa Philosophy with Shigeki Nishimura
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 ...
A Year of Ikigai
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...
Turning Pain Into a Gift: The Kintsugi Life of Kiki Fukai
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 w...
Anxiety as a Compass: Exploring Ikigai, Empathy, and Emotional Wellbeing with Catherine Deeks Gnocchi
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...
Discovering Ikigai Through Art and Martial Arts: A Conversation with Baptiste Tavernier
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 ...
The Transformative Power of Travel: Insights from Jake Haupert
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 ...
Japanese Wisdom for a More Meaningful Life with Saori Okada
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...
Reflections from the Japan Leadership Experience: Live from Tokyo with Katie Anderson
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 ...
Understanding Academic Yarigai with Yu Kanazawa
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...
Understanding Psychological Flexibility: The Key to Emotional Resilience with Ross White
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 st...
The Shared Wisdom of Stoicism and Ikigai with Ken Mogi
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 diff...
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 li...
Applying Japanese Wisdom in Counselling with Ai Kihara
"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, ...
The Transformative Effects of Sound Therapy With Nanako Aramaki
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 comple...
Finding and Feeling Ikigai at Work with Kensuke Yamamoto
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 obligati...
How Ikigai Leads to a Life of Personal Excellence with Andriana Ubunuki Kalfa
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 i...
The Four Secrets to Longevity with Sachiaki Takamiya
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 T...
Ikigai Decisions: Aligning Your Life with What Matters Most with Christopher Tan
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, ...
The Rolefulness Book: Why We Wrote It and What We Hope It Brings You
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.