Description
Book SynopsisThis work takes an anthropological approach to the fundamental question of what makes life worth living. It considers the issue by examining nine pairs of similarly situated individuals in the United States and Japan.
Table of ContentsPreface
Part One: The Cultural Foundations of Ikigai
Introduction: What Makes Life Worth Living?
1. The Varieties of Ikigai in Japan
2. Individualism, Community, and Conformity
in the United States
3· The Comparison of Japanese and American Selves
Part Two: Ikigai in Japanese and American Lives
4· Ikigai in Work and Family
Ikigai and Gender
5· Ikigai in Past and Future
Ikigai and Dreatns
6. Ikigai in Creation and Religion
Ikigai and Significance
Part Three: Ikigai and the Meaning of Life
7· A Phenomenological Analysis of Ikigai
8. Ikigai and the Meaning of Life
References
Index
