KIWI YAMABUSHI

Kia ora Koutou, I'm Tim Bunting, The Kiwi Yamabushi. I am a practicing Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi Japanese mountain ascetic (What's a Yamabushi?). I have been living in Yamagata, Tohoku, north Japan, since 2010. Since 2016, I have trained as a yamabushi under Master Fumihiro Hoshino through Daishobo pilgrim's lodge on Haguro-san, and through Dewa Sanzan Jinja. If you want to find out more about how you too can train in the ways of Shugendo, check out Yamabushido.jp (tell them I sent you).


In my spare time I write stories about the overlooked side of Japan, namely up here in the Tohoku region. I write a daily blog, have a newsletter with over 1,000 subscribers, have a YouTube channel also with over 1,000 subscribers, and am on most socials as @kiwiyamabushi.

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

I am available for online consultation, public speaking in both English and Japanese, and I am able to guide you on The Dewa Sanzan mountains by working through Yamabushido.jp or DewaSanzan.com. As a Master Yamabushi and the creator of Dewasanzan.com, I believe I am the most knowledgable native English speaker on these three mountains.

POPULAR ARTICLES

My newsletter articles are free to read on Substack for a week, but you can just get them sent to your email for free if you subscribe. After that, they are only available to paid subscribers. However, articles that get more than 1,000 reads I put here so everyone can enjoy them. 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.

close up photography of cherry blossom tree
Playing the System

When I was an ALT in Shonai town, I used to play the system in a bit of a sneaky way, but it was the only way I could get my ideas across. Basically, and thankfully, I worked at two junior high schools, and it took me a while to realise this, but I started …

Playing the System Read More »

woman carrying boxes in new apartment
Ownership

With ownership comes opportunity. If you own something, you own the rights to what it makes. With ownership comes responsibility. If you own something, you are responsible. With ownership, if you complain, you better do something about it. Without ownership, if you complain, you can't do anything about it. If you don't own anything, you …

Ownership Read More »

woman wearing teal dress sitting on chair talking to man
The Advantages of not Being Able to Talk

Not being able to talk fast enough for the current pace of conversation, and not being able to elucidate yourself, besides the obvious frustration of not having your opinion heard, can be a bit of a struggle for second language learners. But, as with everything, there is a silver lining. And although that silver lining …

The Advantages of not Being Able to Talk Read More »

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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