Western vs Japanese views on Japanese Concepts

Western and Japanese authors have different views on concepts like Ikigai and Wabi-Sabi.

Western view on Ikigai is on purpose, whereas Japanese would say it is transcendence.

The Westernized version of Ikigai is based on the idea that there are four components one needs to complete in order to achieve Ikigai. These four components are represented by the four questions:

1. Are you doing something that you love?
2. That the world needs?
3. That you are good at?
4. And that you can be paid for? 

The misconception being perpetuated is that one can only achieve Ikigai and true happiness by meeting all four conditions, so if you are doing something you love, but it isn't generating you money, then you haven't achieved Ikigai - this is false.

The four questions in the framework are not questions Japanese ask themselves when they are contemplating their Ikigai(s)

Western authors would explain Wabi-Sabi as imperfection in art and impermanence.

Japanese authors would explain Wabi-Sabi as a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. It is prevalent in many forms of Japanese art.

From the Japanese viewpoint, Wabi-Sabi is about tranquility, bond with nature and flowing with nature. Wabi-Sabi offers a refuge from the modern world's obsession with perfection and accepts imperfections as all the more meaningful – and, in their way, beautiful. It highlights the importance of acceptance in Japanese culture, a society forced to contend with devastating natural disasters on a semi-regular basis. Rather than casting nature solely as a dangerous and destructive force, it helps frame it as a source of beauty, to be appreciated on the smallest of levels.

Wabi-Sabi is a concept that is difficult to translate into English. Hence, these concepts need to be understood more from a cultral and lifestyle perspective. Wabi-Sabi has its roots in Zen Buddhism and its philosophy about life. According to Zen, all things (our selves included) are impermanent and imperfect and the way to satori, or enlightenment is through embracing this imperfection.