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

My Substack newsletter articles are free to read 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.

More on the Zone of Proximal Development

Ok, so we've established that the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is the difference between what a learner already knows (their actual development level, developed "retrospectively"(Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994, p. 468)) and what they can do when assisted (the ZPD, developed prospectively (ibid)), and it is virtually impossible to discover the novice's ZPD without dialogic […]

Weird Japan

In Japan they certainly have an odd way of selling things at schools. The guy in this photo comes to this school nearly everyday trying to sell educational resources to the teachers. He comes in, goes to each row of teachers' desks, says his hellos and then proceeds to sit down at this desk (it's […]

Learning words by frequency

The 2000 most common English words cover around 75-78% of modern English used today and therefore vocabulary should be prioritised by frequency or by importance to your own needs. Knowing this much vocabulary will allow you to function in English, however what does it mean to know a word? Knowing a word means you understand […]

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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