Eight Million Ways to Happiness

Wisdom from the Heart of Japan

De: Hiroko Yoda

‘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 is 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. But hidden in plain sight are Japan’s unique spiritual traditions, which infuse so much of the country’s culture and mindset. Without Japan’s spiritual sustenance, Jiro wouldn’t dream of sushi; Studio Ghibli films wouldn’t spirit us away; and Marie Kondo wouldn’t spark joy.

For Hiroko Yoda, these traditions helped pull her from the loneliness that followed a period of grief and loss. In Eight Million Ways to Happiness, she offers the culmination of her decade-long odyssey into the spiritual heart of her homeland, from Shinto to Buddhism to Shugendo and beyond. Follow Hiroko as she trains as a Shinto shrine-dancer, ascends holy mountains with Shugendo ascetics and meets one of Japan’s last living itako, a traditional mystic. The result is a unique portrait of spirituality the way Japanese experience it, packed with life lessons for us all.©2026 Hiroko Yoda (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Reseñas de la Crítica

Eight Million Ways to Happiness is a timely and moving pilgrimage through Japan's ancient spiritual traditions. As she navigates the terrain of her own grief in the wake of her mother's death, Hiroko Yoda shows us how we might ease our own suffering and reawaken a profound appreciation of the beauty of the world (RUTH OZEKI, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of A Tale for the Time Being)

A fascinating dive through hidden layers of the Japanese worldview (KATHERINE MAY, author of Wintering)

A beautiful exploration of Japanese spirituality. With wise insights and meditative personal stories, Yoda inspires us all to be more intimately connected with nature – and with ourselves (SHUNMYO MASUNO, author of Zen: The Art of Simple Living)

Hiroko Yoda dives into Japanese spirituality with an open heart and a lively, questioning mind. What she discovers is religion with a lowercase r: guidance rather than rules, generosity instead of judgement. Please know: No woo-woo spiritual blather here! Yoda's footing in cultural history and talents as a storyteller set this book apart and above (MARY ROACH, New York Times-bestselling author of Gulp and Stiff)

Transcendently intimate. A personal journey of remembrance and healing leads to a heightened exploration of the mystic realms of Japan. Yoda provides insights into Japanese spiritual lore as well as practical lessons in opening yourself to comforting unseen presences that can change your life (ALFRED BIRNBAUM, translator of Haruki Murakami)