A thousand-year-old concept, ikigai is studied by plenty of modern theorists and scientists (in Japan and beyond) because, as humans, we’re all inherently concerned with our own fulfilment, or happiness, and ikigai is the key to happiness. Makes sense, as you can’t have fulfilment without knowing your measure of fulfilment, your reason for living.

What I find fascinating about ikigai is how for some, it is starkly apparent, and for others, it is shrouded, difficult to pin down or yet to be located. I also think that our ikigai can change as we go through life. Perhaps some of us live authentically for achieving our personal best in our earlier days, only to find more meaning in doing things for others or simply having peace of mind, later in life. But then again, maybe some of us do achieve peace of mind in the continual pursuit of our craft, and that’s our ikigai. Who’s to say one version of purpose is more true than the other?

In any case, ikigai is worth visiting from time to time to keep us in check, and that’s the motivating force behind this issue, if you will. Every story in the following pages will answer the question of why someone does what they do, and if there’s one thing Koktail does best, it’s providing variety. In this issue, we talk to beauty queens who are really walking the talk for our environment. We sit down with an actress-turned-entrepreneur, as well as a salaryman-turned-entrepreneur who’s also discovered his acting chops. We also chat with passionate dog rescuers, champions of local cacao, an operator of a museum- on-wheels, the tattoo artist who designed our cover, a chef with a knack for racking up Michelin stars and many, many other colourful characters, in order to patch together a collage of driving force that will hopefully inspire you.