Welcome back to our series on Japanese Business Philosophies. Last month, we focused on Kaizen, a concept that places emphasis on continuous improvement through incremental changes to processes, products, and services. This month, we look at the Japanese concept of ikigai – a combination of the terms iki, meaning “alive” or “life”, and gai, meaning “benefit” or “worth”. When put together to form ikigai, the meaning that arises is “that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose”. In other words, it is somewhat similar to the French raison d'être.
The concept of ikigai is said to have evolved from an ancient philosophy based on the basic health and wellness principles of Japanese medical tradition, where physical well-being is affected by one’s mental and emotional health as well as sense of purpose in life.
In modern times, ikigai is represented by a rather well-known diagram with four overlapping spheres, representing: what one loves; what one is good at; what the world needs; and, what one can get paid for. At the central point of these four overlapping spheres is one’s ikigai, or reason for being.
In the book “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life”, when the authors interviewed the residents from one of the world’s Blue Zones – places where people live the longest and are the healthiest – the residents of a Japanese village revealed that ikigai is the key to their happier and longer lives. They have a strong sense of “a reason for living”, and each day is infused with meaning. They have a real purpose in life – and this motivates them to stay healthy and live longer. Going beyond happiness, their ikigai brings them satisfaction and fulfilment.
At Nipro, our slogan is “Live Longer. Live Better.”, and our purpose is for all to live longer and better lives, both patients and employees. And of course, happiness, satisfaction, and fulfilment – the joyful results of ikigai - are part of this equation. For patients, we work hand in hand with healthcare providers to ensure that top research goes into our products to provide value-added healthcare services and solutions for all.
For employees, several of our branches internationally organize healthy physical activities like Pilates classes. Beyond physical health, we also encourage mental well-being. Many branches have a hybrid working option. We also encourage learning and offer development opportunities in many areas. This empowers our employees to do more of what they love, to upskill and be really good at what they love, and ultimately, as we are a company involved in healthcare, our employees get to do more of what the world needs. In other words, we create an environment suitable for ikigai by enabling passion, mission, profession, and vocation to meet.
As work is a great part of where we spend our time daily, on our course to achieving ikigai, it is important that we are happy at work. The “Great Place to Work” certification that has been awarded to Nipro in several of our locations is testimony that we take our promise to encourage wellness at work seriously.
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