TIM BUNTING

KIWI YAMABUSHI

山伏

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi on Mt. Gassan

キウイ

DAILY YAMABUSHI


You just have to be better

October 24, 2025

Room for improvement

You go where you go

October 22, 2025

And you get to where you get to

A Matter of Action

October 21, 2025

Doing not trying

It’s called life.

October 20, 2025

And you don’t need to make an excuse for it.

Why is Not Important

October 19, 2025

Action that leads to the why is

Now first. Then later.

October 18, 2025

Where should your focus be?

If you suck at something

October 17, 2025

There’s less pressure when you practice it

FEATURE ARTICLES

Here are a few samples of what you find in my newsletter, Mountains of Wisdom.

What The Mountains of Japan Taught Me

Knowledge has nothing on experience

Say Sayonara to Sayonara: Japanese words that are misunderstood

And the best way to learn the real meaning of words

The Town of Dual Dragons

And the legends they created.

One with the Mountains

In your element, in the elements

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi
Why do yamabushi do yamabushi training?

Yamabushi gotta yamabushi.

How Cup Noodles and Kawaii Culture made Axolotls famous in Japan

At the time, The Unlimited Teddy Bear was watching footage of Minecraft axolotls in English when they realised the English word for Axolotl was, in fact, Axolotl.

My Love Affair with North Japan’s Tallest Peak

Chokai-san: The Sparkling Gem in Tohoku's Eye

Mountains and Moments

Focus on the step in front of you, not the mountain in the distance.

A Jizo statue at the top of Mt. Kyogakura in Sakata
Uketamo: the philosophy to live by

Uketamo has a long, long history.

Prescribe Nature

And the ultimate in Japanese mountain warriors

Chokai-san (Mt. Chokai)
Hiking Guide: Mountains of The Shonai Region of Yamagata

Introducing the mountains in the Shonai Region of Yamagata

The mystical mountain men of Japan

Featuring The Legend of how Japan's most famous mountain man couldn't quite handle it

Why do Japanese Shrines have lightning-bolt tassels?

Plus the scientific basis behind it all.

Mongols, Kamikaze, and a mountain in northern Japan

The Legend of Haguro-san's Bell Tower

Don’t trust the chrysanthemums.

The forgotten festival and Japanese cultural faux pas #2934

MOUNTAINS OF YAMAGATA

Here are a few posts of my adventures climbing the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.

Close Encounters of the Tengu Kind

(Murayama) Tengu-yama is a 403-m high peak in Nishikawa town that is home to a Tengu, a yokai or supernatural being.

The Swamp Monster of Yozo

Ancient trail of primeval beech forests, legendary swamp monsters, waterfalls, snow bridges, and more.

Mt.-Takadate-and-Shimoike-lake-in-Tsuruoka
Wetland Wonderland of Takadate-yama

Takadate-yama is short in stature, but packs a lot of punch as home to one of the only RAMSAR wetlands in Japan

Sign on the Nakanomata Trail up Mt. Nihonkoku
This is How I Conquered Japan!

How to conquer Japan in 60 short minutes

A Jizo statue at the top of Mt. Kyogakura in Sakata
Womb Passes and Monkey Crossings: Kyogakura-san “The Shugendo Peak of Sutras” (Mt. Kyogakura)

This tiny Shugendo peak and how the Japanese language got three alphabets

Bananas and Cokes, Leaches and Pit Vipers

How a group of elderly Japanese men saved our arses

Panoramas and picnics under the Sakura: Kita-yama (Mt. Kitayama)

Former ski field turned into a Sakura-lover’s paradise on the outskirts of Murayama City

THIS. IS. YAMAGARTA: Japan’s 300 Moment. 

How this tiny peak turned feudal Japan’s biggest battle on its head

Kurosawa Akira, Abe Shinzo, The Kami of War, and a flock of geese?

Mountain that marks the entrance to the Kamuro Alps

The sun sets over the ninth station of Mt. Gassan
Gassan, the Dewa Sanzan’s “Mountain of Death” (Mt. Gassan)

The tallest Dewa Sanzan peak with a thriving Haguro Shugendo Yamabushi culture.

Mt. Atsumi in Atsumi Onsen, a quaint Onsen Hot Spring town in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture
Reaching Peak Tranquility: Atsumi-dake (Mt. Atsumi)

The hidden Onsen (Hot Spring) town of Atsumi's own hidden gem

This mountain is EVERYWHERE in Japan: Ha-yama

Former Dewa Sanzan peak in inland Yamagata Prefecture with an extensive Shugendo and Mountain Worship history.

Mt. Haguro's Five Story Pagoda
Why This Tiny Mountain MUST be on Your Japan Itinerary: Haguro-san

Home to Haguro Shugendo and the Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi mountain monks

Mt. Ubagatake in autumn
The Widow’s Peak: Ubaga-take (Mt. Ubagatake) of North Japan

Must-see autumn alpine dreamland between the two tallest Dewa Sanzan peaks with a twisted backstory

Zao-san and Why We Climb Mountains (Mt. Zao)

Zao-san: Snow monsters, ski fields, mountain hags, multi-coloured crater lakes, hot springs, and more.

Yamabushi

Here are some blog posts about yamabushi.

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi looks out over Mt. Chokai from Mt. Gassan
Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi
YAMABUSHI

Random Posts

anonymous snowboarder standing on snowy mountain peak

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