Many are probably wondering what our kennel name “Ikigai-ken” actually means.
Here is a little story about the origin of our kennel:
We knew immediately that our kennel should have a Japanese name, because in our opinion it fits best to our little Japanese companions.
The name was actively worked on by 3 people, namely Andreas Mattke (the Japanese speaking partner of my closely trusted breeder colleague Alexandra Schultz from the kennel Tamashii to Hokori), my Japanese friend Kiko and myself.
Here is the meaning:
Ikigai (生きがい) means something like “meaning of life” or “what you get up for in the morning”. In other words, that which makes life worth living for oneself.
Ken (犬) is “dog” from Nihon Ken (日本犬) which means “Japanese dogs”.
Per se, the word compound doesn’t exist like that, but after I asked my friend Kiko about it, she said:
“For me, 生きがい犬 makes sense. When I hear 生きがい犬 at the first time, I may think it means the dog makes ikigai of the dog owner.”
This is precisely what it’s supposed to express, that my dogs give me a purpose in life.
And that is exactly what I want to make possible for other people through my kennel.