When living in Japan, I loved learning about Japanese culture and was fascinated by many beautiful Japanese concepts. One concept, that stands out particularly to me is the one of ikigai, which can be roughly translated to “the reason for living” or “meaning for life.” Iki means “life” while gai stands for “value” or “worth.”… Read more

Japan and the ‘kaizen’ principle While living in Japan, I noticed one personal trait in many people: the willingness to keep learning and improving. One of Japan’s most famous sushi chefs, Jiro Ono, has worked all his life to consistently improve the sushi that he offers in his well-known restaurant. It can be tiny things,… Read more

“Shall I turn the music up louder?” The rickshaw driver screamed while making eye contact with me in the rear-view mirror. I felt my ears would explode already, and I was about to go deaf. So, I screamed back: “No, thank you. It is already quite loud like this.” The tuk-tuk driver looked amused. He… Read more