I Found My Ikigai in Japan — Without Ever Going There
My name is Rafael Anjos. I’m Portuguese, born in Lisbon, and I live in England. By trade I’m a designer — I’ve spent years building websites and digital experiences for other people — and by nature I’m someone who falls into subjects completely. Japan is the one I never climbed out of.
It started, as it does for many people, with the food. Then the craft behind the food. Then the design, the rituals, the language — and then I found the thread that made it personal: Portugal was there first. In 1543, Portuguese traders became the first Europeans to reach Japan, and for nearly a century the two countries traded goods, words, recipes and ideas. Tempura is Portuguese. Castella cake is Portuguese. The Japanese word for bread is Portuguese. Japan never forgot this. Portugal, strangely, mostly did.
Momo Ikigai exists to tell that story — and everything I love around it. Japanese recipes you can actually cook with ingredients you can actually buy here. The culture and everyday beauty of Japanese life. Travel guides, including the places where Portugal’s fingerprints are still visible. And the tools, gadgets and finds that are genuinely worth your money, tested honestly.
Momo means peach in Japanese. Ikigai is the Japanese idea of a reason for being — the overlap of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what sustains you. This site is mine.
What I Use & Recommend
Everything I link to — ingredients, tools, books, travel gear — is either something I use or something I’ve researched properly for readers in the UK. The full curated list lives at Shop Japan UK.
Affiliate Disclosure
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only link to things I genuinely recommend — the long version is on the affiliate disclosure page.
Say Hello
Reader questions, collaborations and press: info@momoikigai.com or the contact page. For daily Japan — food, finds and the Portugal thread — I’m on Instagram: @momo_ikigai_culture.