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.

hands of people reaching to each other
Knowledge that knowledge is not power is power.

My profile for my university job states 'In the communication age, knowledge is power. Find your power.' It didn't take me too long to realise that this is actually complete rubbish. If the greatest ideas in the world were stuck in the mind of someone without the ability to communicate them, then they're completely useless. …

Knowledge that knowledge is not power is power. Read More »

close up photography of ant
The one constant thing in life is change.

Back about 10 years ago in an interview applying for a MEXT scholarship I was asked what in my opinion was the biggest difference between NZ and Japan. My answer now is the role of women in society, however that Japan is extremely conservative and NZ extremely progressive would be a close second. When I …

The one constant thing in life is change. Read More »

person holding blue ballpoint pen writing in notebook
Better communication, better results.

I heard of a challenge from Seth Godin to write everyday. I have learned the importance of effective communication by being a teacher, translator, and interpreter over the years, and I'm going to write this blog, even if it's crap, everyday for as long as I can. My reasoning is purely selfish, to be a …

Better communication, better results. 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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