KIWI YAMABUSHI

Kia ora koutou. I’m Tim Bunting, the Kiwi Yamabushi.

I’m a practicing Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi, a Japanese mountain ascetic based in Yamagata Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. Since 2016, I’ve trained in Haguro Shugendō under Master Fumihiro Hoshino through Daishobō, a pilgrim’s lodge on Haguro-san, and through Dewa Sanzan Jinja.


If you’re interested in experiencing Shugendō for yourself, check out Yamabushido.jp. Tell them I sent you.


In my spare time, I share stories from the overlooked corners of Japan, especially here in Tōhoku. I publish a Substack newsletter with over 1,500 subscribers, write a daily blog, and post videos on YouTube (over 1,000 subscribers). You’ll find me on most platforms as @kiwiyamabushi.

I’m currently on a mission to summit and document all 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.

I’m available for:

  • Online consultation
  • Public speaking (in English or Japanese)
  • Guided experiences on the Dewa Sanzan (via Yamabushidō.jp or DewaSanzan.com)

As a Master Yamabushi and the creator of DewaSanzan.com, I believe I’m the most knowledgeable native English speaker on these sacred mountains.

POPULAR ARTICLES

All of the articles can be found here.

MOUNTAINS OF YAMAGATA

Here are a few posts of my adventures climbing the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata. Read about the project here, or view all articles here.

DAILY YAMABUSHI

Here are some of my Daily Yamabushi posts. Get more here.

Breaking my rule

I'm breaking my own rule. This week I was only able to go swimming once. I've just had too much stuff pile up slowly and it's culminated I'm not having enough time to do stuff. Yesterday I had set aside the day for a break, but something came up that it would have been rude […]

Yamabushi Writing

In Yamabushi training, we don't write things down because humans write things down to read them later, and this means we aren't practicing living in the moment, one of the main aims of the training. When I do the Akinomineiri Ritual in August, I'm going to have to decide how to continue this blog. Should […]

Obedience and Earned Respect

At the start of class in Japan, the students all stand up, now to the teacher, and sit down before lessons start. Supposedly this is to show their respect to the teacher. I have no problem with students showing their respect to the teacher, but I'd rather they did it by putting in the effort […]

Lessons from Ramit Sethi’s (second?) podcast with Tim Ferriss

There's only so much you can save, but the amount you can earn is infinite. No matter how much you cut your expenses, you won't be able to live as well as if you had increased income. Focus on increasing your income, but at the same time don't ignore the expenses. This could be the […]

Don’t change things if you don’t have to

Whenever you do a native check or are checking a translation, there is a rule that you only change what needs changing. I didn't actually know this until I had someone coach me through a job, but it's a rule that makes a lot of sense, and saves a lot of trouble. It's not only […]

Blind acceptance

If you take on a job, you take on everything that comes with it. The pay, the working hours, the fact you have a boss, everything. So you can't blame them for the bad situations they put you in. There's always an option to move elsewhere or make a living in other ways. Don't be […]

Having ideas shared and taking credit

The fact that your ideas are being shared should be enough. It shows that you were on the right track. It only really matters if you get the credit if your livelihood depends on it, which it doesn't. Anyway, you should be able to make up for it in some way. So don't fret.

KIWI YAMABUSHI

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

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Sakata City, Yamagata, Japan 

timb008@gmail.com

All photos my own unless otherwise stated. Contact for more. 

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