Eight Million Ways to Happiness

An immersive journey through Japan''s ancient spiritual traditions, and how they can help bring us comfort and happiness today – perfect for readers of Ikigai and Abroad in Japan.

‘A timely and moving pilgrimage through Japan’s ancient spiritual traditions. Yoda shows how we might ease our own suffering and reawaken a profound appreciation of the beauty of the world’ RUTH OZEKI, Women’s Prize-winning and Booker Prize-shortlisted author

Everyone’s in the pursuit of happiness, but few know how to attain it. Millions around the world have turned to Japan for advice on finding their Ikigai, or summoning The Courage to Be Disliked. Japan’s spiritual traditions hide in plain sight, forming the basis of so much of what we love about the country’s culture. Without Japan’s spiritual sustenance, Jiro wouldn’t dream of sushi; Hayao Miyazaki’s films wouldn’t spirit us away; and Marie Kondo wouldn’t spark joy.

In Eight Million Ways to Happiness, Hiroko Yoda offers the culmination of her decade-long odyssey into the spiritual heart of her homeland. Readers follow Hiroko as she trains as a Shinto shrine-dancer, partakes in Buddhist funeral rituals, ascends holy mountains with Shugendo ascetics, and meets one of Japan’s last living itako, a traditional mystic. Her stories – personal, cultural, and historical – are packed with life lessons for all.

Hiroko awakens readers to the idea of a traditional spiritual flexibility that seamlessly coexists with the modern secular world, fortifying us through life’s inevitable ups and downs. We are all subject to forces beyond our control, but we are also part of a bigger natural system that can strengthen us – if we learn how to reconnect with it.