Every person has a will to achieve meaning and purpose in life (PIL)/ikigai. According to previous studies, PIL/ikigai provides people with the ability to integrate stressful psychological events from the past, present, and future with less conflict or confusion. This ability results in decreased anxiety and lower sympathetic nervous system activity during psychological and physical stressful situations. PIL/ikigai develops by positive experiences in one’s life such as experiencing sympathetic listening by others and being affected by persons and/or events. Overall, evidence shows that PIL/ikigai is an effective technique for coping with stress and helped many people cope with the enormous earthquake that occurred in Japan in March 2011.
KeywordsThe East Japan Enormous EarthquakeStressPurpose in LifeIkigai
Abo, T., & Kawamura, T. (2002). Immunomodulation by the autonomic nervous system: Therapeutic approach for cancer, collagen disease, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Therapeutic Apheresis, 6, 348-357.
Allen, B.P. (2000). Personality Theories. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Arai, M. (2007). Ju Gyu Zu. Tokyo: Shinki-Sha. (In Japanese)
Atkinson, R.L., Atkinson, R.C., Smith, E.E., Ben, D.J.,& Nolen-Hosksema, S. (1996). Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
Bundra, A. (1997). Social LearningTtheory. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Crumbaugh, J.C., & Maholic, L.T. (1972). An experimental study in existentialism: The psychometric approach to Frankl’s concept of noogenic neurosis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 20, 200-207.
Fahrenbach, H. (1907). Existenzphilosophie und Ethik. Frakfurt: Verlag Vittoro Klostermann. (in German)
Frankl, V. E. (1972). The meaning of meaninglessness: A challenge to psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 32, 85-89.
Ginger, S. (1995). La Gestalt-L’Art du Contact. Alleur (Belgique): Marabout. (in French)
Goto, T., & Kamada, K. (1960). Taiheiki. Tokyo: Iwanami-Shoten. (in Japanese)
Hui, V. K., & Fung, H. H. (2009). Mortality anxiety as a function of intrinsic religiosity and perceived purpose in life. Death Studies, 33, 30-50.
Irie, Y. (1982). Ryokan Shisyu. Tokyo: Kodan-Sha. (in Japanese)
Ishida, R. (2008a). Correlation between purpose in life (ikigai) and state anxiety in schizoid temperament with consideration of early life, youth, and adulthood experiences. Acta Medica et Biologica, 56, 27- 32.
Ishida, R. (2008b). Correlation between social desirability and autonomic nervous function under goal-oriented stress (mental arithmetic) with consideration of parental attitudes. The autonomic nervous system, 45, 242-249. (in Japanese)
Ishida, R., & Okada, M. (2001). Analysis of correlation between physical training and autonomic function by using multivariate analysis: Establishing an indicator of health. Rinsyo Byori, 49, 1162-1165. (in Japanese)
Ishida, R., & kada, M. (2006). Effects of a firm purpose in life on anxiety and sympathetic nervous activity caused by emotional stress: Assessment by psycho-physiological method. Stress and Health, 22, 275-281.
Ishida, R., & Okada, M. (2011a). Factors influencing the development of “Purpose in Life” and its relationship to coping with mental stress. Psychology, 2. 29-34.
Ishida, R., & Okada, M. (2011b). Emotion and the autonomic nervous activity against psychological stress are affected by firmness of purpose in life. Health, 3. 507-511.
Ishida, R., & Okada, M. (2011c). Association of trait anxiety and social desirability with white blood cell counts. The Open Psychiatry Journal, 5. 1-4.
Ishida, R. ,Okada, M., & Bando, T. (2004a). Relation between level of purpose-in-life and the autonomic nervous function under a mental stress. Niigata Medical Journal, 118, 333-339. (in Japanese)
Ishida, R. ,Okada, M., & Bando, T. (2004b). Evaluations of the adaptation to stressors by using psycho-physiological methods: Contribution to the youth education. The autonomic nervous system, 41, 419- 422. (in Japanese)
Kamiya, M. (2004). Ikigai ni tsuite. Tokyo: Misuzu-Shobo. (in Japanese)
Kida, G. (2006). Gendai Shiso. Tokyo: Shin-Shokan. (in Japanese)
Koizumi, M., Ito, H., Kaneko, Y., & Motohashi, Y. (2008). Effect of having a sense of purpose in life on the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. Journal of Epidemiology, 8, 191-196.
Krause, N. (2009). Meaning in life and mortality. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64, 517-527.
Kremer, H., & Ironson, G. (2009). Everything changed: Spiritual transformation in people with HIV. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 39, 243-262.
Kuroda, M. (1966). Ningen no Riso ni tsuite. Niigata: Niigata Prefecture Mental Hygiene Society. ( in Japanese)
Kuroda, M. (1969). Kokoro no Eisei. Tokyo: Kyodo-Shuppan. (in Japa- nese)
McColl, M. A., Bickenbach, J., Johnston, J., Nishihama, S., Schumaker, M., Smith, K., Smith, M., & Yealland, B. (2000). Changes in spiritual beliefs after traumatic disability. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 81, 817-823.
Murata, C., Kondo, T., Tamakoshi, K., Yatsuya, H., & Toyoshima, H. (2006). Determinants of self-rated health: Could health status explain the association between self-rated health and mortality? Archives Gerontology Geriatrics, 43, 369-380.
Nakanishi, N., Fukuda, H., Takatorige, T., & Tatara,K. (2005). Relationship between self-assessed masticatory disability and 9-year mortality in a cohort of community-residing elderly people. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53, 54-58.
Ofman, W.V. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. In H.I. Kaplan, A.M. Freedman and B.J. Sadock (Eds.), Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/III (pp.837-847). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Company.
Pascal, B. (1897). Pensées. Paris: Hachette. (in French)
Pinquart, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Fr?hlich, C. (2009). Life goals and purpose in life in cancer patients. Supportive Care in Cancer, 17, 253-259.
Seki, N. (2001). Relationships between walking hours, sleeping hours, meaningfulness of life (ikigai) and mortality in the elderly: Prospective cohort study. Nippon Eiseigaku Zassi, 56, 535-540. (in Japanese)
Sone, T., Nakaya, N., Ohmori, K., Shimazu, T., Higashiguchi, M., Kikuchi, N., Kuriyama, S., & Tsuji, I. (2008). Sense of life worth living (ikigai) and mortality in Japan: Ohsaki Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 709-715.
Takagi, I., Ozawa, M., Atsumi, K., & Kindaichi, H. (1959). Heike Monogatari. Tokyo: Iwanami-Shoten. (in Japanese)
Tanno, K., & Sakata, K. (2007). Psychological factors and mortality in the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer (JACC). Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 8, 113-122.
The Asahi Shimbun, May 31, 2011. (in Japanese)
The Asahi Shimbun, July 6, 2011. (in Japanese)
The Mainichi Shimbun, May 31, 2011. (in Japanese)
The Mainichi Shimbun, July 4, 2011. (in Japanese)
The Niigata Nippo, March 13, 2011. (in Japanese)
The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 3, 2011. (in Japanese)
The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 8, 2011. (in Japanese)
Ueda, K. (1993). Seishinteki ni Kenko na Ningen. Tokyo: Kawashima-Shoten. (in Japanese)