正文
Japan's formula for life satisfaction
日本人的“人生满意度公式”
Formed by combining "iki", meaning "life", and "gai", meaning "to be worthwhile", the term "ikigai" is a succinct way to describe what gets you up in the morning — be it work, family or a well-loved hobby — much like a prosaic version of the French term "raison d'être".
“ikigai”一词由“iki”（意思是“生活”）和“gai”（意思是“值得”）组合而成，人们用它来简洁地描述一个人每天早晨起床的动力——不管是工作、家庭，还是狂热的爱好——这个概念很像法语 raison d'être（表示“存在的理由”）的直白版。
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"It's something you live for," explained ex-corporate worker Masataka Shintoku, simply, when asked to define the ancient term.
曾在企业任职的新德正德（音）被问到如何定义这个古老的词语时，简单地解释道：“这是人活着的目的。”
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However, while a burst of international attention has seen the term appear on lists of inspirational, untranslatable words, its homeland is struggling to unite concept and reality. The disconnect between the discovery of a deep motivation that makes life worth living and the reality of 14-hour days in front of computer screens seems stark, but not entirely unfathomable, when seen in context of Japan's drastic 20th-century development.***
然而，虽然这个词一时间在国际上引起了关注，它开始出现在一系列“励志但无法翻译的外文词汇”榜单上，但在它的发源地日本，人们却不知如何把想法和现实统一起来。一边是要发现让人生充满价值的深层动力，另一边是每天花 14 小时对着电脑屏幕的现实，两者之间的脱节似乎很明显，但若放在 20 世纪日本经济急剧发展的背景下，这种落差并非完全无法理解。
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Soon after World War Two, Japan entered a new age of growth known as the "economic miracle". Offering affluence and increasingly extended life-expectancy, the newfound freedom allowed the topic of ikigai, which dates back as far as the 14th century, to return to the forefront of popular debate.
第二次世界大战后不久，日本进入了所谓“经济奇迹”的全新增长时代。新的社会自由带来了富足的生活和日益延长的预期寿命，让最早追溯到 14 世纪的“人生追求”重新成为公众讨论的热点话题。
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Japan's economic success and the re-emergence of a corresponding interest in a personal ikigai soon became irreversibly entwined, shaping the work-life balance for decades to come.
日本经济取得了成功，同时个人的“人生追求”再度得到重视，而这两者很快就不可逆转地交织在一起，塑造了随后几十年里工作与生活的平衡。
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Although the traditional working environments remain strict in terms of hours and available leave, the economic downturn has opened up new opportunities. "Today there's a different Japanese world, and there's more freedom for people to find their own ikigai in a variety of different ways," explained Gordon Mathews, professor of anthropology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
尽管传统的工作环境在工作时间和可支配休假等方面仍有着严格的规定，但日本经济的不景气却带来了新的机遇。“今天的日本社会不一样了，人们有更多的自由，可以通过各种不同的方式找到属于自己的‘人生追求’，”香港中文大学人类学教授戈登·马修斯解释说。
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主编：宇轩、桃子
品控：宇轩
审核：Lucky
重点词汇
formula
/ˈfɔːr.mjə.lə/
n. 公式，方程式；惯例，配方
搭配短语：mathematical formula
例句：I hope we can arrive at a formula for peace.
what gets you up in the morning
“早上起床的动力”
相关短语：to wake sb. up; to awake sb.
相关短语：what keeps you awake at night
例句：Thinking about him has been keeping me awake at night.
be it...or
不管是......还是
prosaic
/prəˈzeɪ.ɪk/
adj. 平淡无奇的，缺乏想象力的
搭配短语：prosaic language
反义词：poetic（adj. 富有诗意的）
搭配短语：poetic language
unite
/juːˈnaɪt/
v.（使）结合；（使）联合
词根词缀：unus（拉丁语，“一”）
相关词汇：unit（单位；单元）
搭配短语：the United States of America
disconnect
/ˈdɪs.kənekt/
n. 不一致，脱节
词性拓展：v. 断开连接
例句：Network disconnected.
例句：There's an obvious disconnect between management and assembly-line workers.
stark
/stɑːrk/
adj. 明显的；荒凉的
搭配短语：in stark contrast
例句：Obama and Trump stand in stark contrast to each other.
unfathomable
/ʌnˈfæð.ə.mə.bəl/
adj. 无法理解的；难以理解的
相关词汇：fathom（v. 测量……的深度；揣摩，理解）
in context of
在...背景下
例句：Words are best understood in context. / Words are best understood in the context of the article.
affluence
/ˈæf.lu.əns/
n. 富裕
词性拓展：affluent（adj. 富裕的）
相关词汇：rich
搭配短语：affluent families/individuals
newfound
/ˈnuː.faʊnd/
adj. 新获得的
英文释义：recently discovered or established
搭配短语：newfound fame/freedom
forefront
/ˈfɔːr.frʌnt/
n. 最前线，最重要的位置
英文释义：the leading or most important position or place
例句：Her success propelled her to the forefront of pop music overnight.
irreversibly
/ˌɪr.əˈvɝː.sə.bli/
adv. 不可逆转地
相关词汇：reverse（v. 反转，逆转）
搭配短语：to reverse the decline in the industry
派生词：reversible（adj. 可逆转的）
派生词：reversibly（adv. 可逆转地）
entwined
/ɪnˈtwaɪnd/
adj. 密切相关的
相关词汇：twin（n. 双胞胎）
相关词汇：twine（v. 缠绕，交织）
例句：They walked together with their arms entwined.
例句：Her destiny was entwined with his.
leave
/liːv/
n. 假期，休假
词性拓展：leave（v. 离开）
搭配短语：paid leave
搭配短语：annual leave
例句：I would like to apply for 3 days' leave.