ONE YAMABUSHI
ONE CONCH
MOUNTAINS OF WISDOM
Kia ora Koutou, Tim Bunting the Kiwi Yamabushi here bringing you key concepts, life advice, and hiking guides from the Japanese mountains.
Learn more about yamabushi with my articles or YouTube videos, follow my progress as I climb and document the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata, read my daily blog, or sign up for weekly updates with Mountains of Wisdom, my Yamabushi newsletter.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. And if you’re really keen, be sure to sign up for yamabushi training with Yamabushido.
WHAT IS A YAMABUSHI?
In short, yamabushi are the mountain dwellers of Japan. Since ancient times, yamabushi have practiced the Shugendo, the way (do) of attaining divine natural powers (gen) through ascetic practices (shu). Otherwise known as Shugenja, ‘those who practice Shugendo’, the word yamabushi comes from Yama (山) meaning mountain, and fushi or fuseru (伏せる), meaning to promulgate, or to be on all fours. This is because yamabushi are often found crawling all over the mountains during Shugyo ascetic training.
Read the article to find out more.
BECOMING YAMABUSHI
By becoming a yamabushi, I have learned what it means to appreciate nature, and through this appreciation I feel Ikigai, which I define as the desire to live well. It is my wish for those around the world who are struggling to have the chance to learn from my experience, to perhaps join yamabushi training (it’s not a requirement, but it definitely helps), and to discover Ikigai for themselves.
I have written a blog post every day since the start of 2019 about becoming a yamabushi, my yamabushi philosophy, and creativity. My blog can be found here.
100 FAMOUS MOUNTAINS OF YAMAGATA PROJECT
In 2021 I began a project to summit and document the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata Prefecture on a special blog and YouTube channel.
Yamagata Prefecture has over 2700 mountains, an extraordinary amount for such a small place. In 2016, they made a list of 100 famous mountains, and I’m going to climb them all!
Sign up for the weekly Mountains of Wisdom newsletter, where I send out wisdom straight from the mountains of Yamagata, updates of the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata Project, and a round-up of the week’s blog posts. Or, support my work by following me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok.
Here are some of the blog posts and videos.
YAMABUSHI NEWSLETTER
YAMABUSHI BLOG POSTS
FEATURED ON
Abroad in Japan
Go North Japan
RISU Press
Office of The Prime Minister of Japan
Seek Sustainability Japan
KIWI YAMABUSHI IN JAPANESE
PODCASTS FEATURING KIWI YAMABUSHI
ARTICLES FEATURING KIWI YAMABUSHI
Sakata City, Yamagata, Japan
timb008@gmail.com
All photos my own. Contact for more.