Home - Tim Bunting

TIM BUNTING

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.

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.

ALL

DAILY YAMABUSHI

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

Focus on the audience

When you're giving a presentation, or any sales talk, always remember that no matter what you say, if it doesn't interest the audience, it's useless. The trick is to focus entirely on what the audience wants to hear, and to work your content around that. This has the added benefit of removing your 'self' from […]

The Very Fact I Can

A few years back when I was working in Amarume at an elementary school, I was asked why I like to swim so much. Some of the students had obviously seen me at the pool or something so it wasn't such a weird question, but I answered something that may have been a bit too […]

Facts Vs. Opinions

I was just reading the Cashflow Quadrants by Robert Kiyosaki where he highlights something his rich dad pointed out. Is what you hear a fact? Or is it an opinion? The answer to this question should have repercussions for how you act in response. If a valuer tells you your house is worth $1m, is […]

Price

Price is there not to make profit, but to help create a sustainable market. A few years back, a friend and I were running an experimental cafe. Our offerings were simple; a meal for about 800yen, a coffee for about 400yen, or both for about 1000yen. We were running the cafe for a bit of […]

Metaphors can help change the world

I've realised one way in which writing a blog every day has affected me is that I keep thinking up metaphors. I keep looking for ideas in the oddest of places. Which I think is great. The greatest communicators are those who are able to keep the narrative going, and metaphors are an excellent way […]

Passivity

Japanese people in general are amazingly passive. From what I've seen, they are taught from a young age to just accept things that are given to them in life. They are used to things being prescribed to them, being told how to think, how to act, I actually think the small camera showing how the […]

Akimbo

I listen to a lot of podcasts, I've listened to every episode of Freakanomics, the majority of Tim Ferriss', basically all of disrupting Japan, the How I Built That podcast, and I'm currently going through 99% Invisible's backlog but one in particular truly stands out for me. The Akimbo podcast by Seth Godin. I'm not […]