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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.

The Heart Sutra

Midnight. On top of a mountain. Inside a small shrine. Only candle light to guide you. It flickers as you recite the Heart Sutra non-stop and enter a trance. Every year from the 6th of May, Yamabushi belonging to Daishobo spend 3 consecutive days at Prince Hachiko Shrine on the top of Mt. Haguro praying […]

Don’t make it an excuse

I often hear people excusing the way Japanese people behave by saying 'it's because we're an island nation', as if that holds any truth. New Zealand is also an island nation. Does that mean our culture is the same as Japan's? No way. That doesn't mean to say that Japan isn't at all different. Not […]

Fighting Fires

When it comes to fighting fires, co-ordination is key. When a fire breaks out, if it's small enough for the municipality to cover it, then that's fine, let them do their thing. But when the fire gets a bit out of hand, back-up from other fire services is required. I feel that the local tourism […]

Machine Translation

Simply don't. It makes you look cheap, and can have the exact opposite effect desired. Look at this website. Yamagata Prefecture, where I live, has declared that they would like to increase the number of overseas tourists, but somehow they think using a machine-translated site is going to do that. What that means is, they […]

The right idea can change the world

Want to change the world? Put your idea into action. With traction, the right idea can spread throughout the world. However, to get that traction, the idea has to be replicable. It has to have the ability to spread easily. How do you know if an idea is easy to gain traction? You don't unless […]

Getting over the money

Last year I made more money than I ever had before. That was through a combination of my normal jobs, plus a few extra translations and a little bit of interpretation. If I were just in it for the money, I would probably be a translator or interpreter. The reason I'm not is that I'm […]

Traveling and meeting people

Like traveling, meeting different types of people is a great way to broaden your outlook. The many ways we all think is as extraordinary and broad as the places we have in the world. Actually, since there's more people, it's probably broader! Anyway, getting to know many different people is a great way to learn […]