The Ikigai Podcast

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

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

Unlocking Cross-Cultural Communication in Japan with Shohei Yoshida

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 spo

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, di

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 Utsuw

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 smal

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 qu

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 psychother

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 b

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, an

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 r

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

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 grow

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 though

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

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—mo

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. Ba

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 los

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