Daily Yamabushi

When I was 15 I worked in a pizza shop and they had this sweet deal where every shift you got a small pizza.

Well, there was one guy working there who I’ll never forget; Pizza sandwich guy. This guy would purposely ‘save up’ his pizzas to get a bigger one, which he would then continue to fold one half on top of the other. A pizza sandwich, if you will.

The guy was a genius in that regard, but he told me that the only reason he was working in the shop (besides, obviously, the pizza sandwiches), was that he was paying off a credit card debt from years ago.

When he was younger, he bought an enormous amount of something (most likely pizzas) that put him into debt. Then and there he also warned me against getting a credit card.

I have one, they’re too handy not to, but every time I use it, I’m reminded of pizza sandwiches and why it needs to be used with caution.

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I’ve been lazy.

And I’m sorry.

I do blame it partially on Mailchimp having such a horrendous writing experience. Medium is much better, plus they reinstated the ability to write on mobile which is a huge plus for me (I can write in bed!). But Mailchimp really takes the joy out of writing. Ghost.org was definitely on to something, it just wasn’t for me at the moment. 

Either way, this hasn’t stopped me from continuing on with the project.

I have slowly been working my way through the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata List, and am now more than a quarter through. Last Sunday’s Okina-san was #26, and yesterday’s Sabane-yama #27. 

I have also either written an article or a Mountain Preview for half of the mountains now. A complete list is on that main page. Mountain Previews basically involve me translating the Yamagatayama.com website, adding the maps, and collecting resources to essentially help me for when I actually climb the mountains, but there should be enough information there for you to go on a hike with (just make sure to check the conditions yourself beforehand). 

In July, I climbed Zao-san which has two peaks on the list; Kumano-dake and Jizo-dake. The accompanying article was intense, so much to say, and kudos if you managed to read it all! It’s nearly as long as my Gassan article (I also have updates to my Haguro article in the works, so far it’s a 40-minute read…). 

At the end of July I climbed Yakushi-san, a very short hike in Kaneyama with a huge history. As you can tell the article’s done, and I’m working on the video as we speak, but this one was also special, the pyramids of Japan!

Then as mentioned earlier, on Sunday I climbed Okina-san, which turned out to be amazing, to say the least. A foggy day meant the view from the summit was all but ruined, just endless white cloud, but the forests! The forests were simply magical! I’m looking forward to putting the video together soon (the nearby Futatsu-mori also looks like a fun little peak!). 

In all honesty, I had actually tried to get to Kamuro-dake, a peak in the north east of Yamagata Prefecture that is the highest point of a caldera primarily in Miyagi Prefecture. The road was blocked about 5km from the trailhead, so I made the decision to go south to Okina-san instead. I’m really looking forward to the road opening at the end of September, right when the autumn leaves should be making an appearance. 

And yesterday’s Sabane-yama was a real adventure. It started out in a residential area but quickly turned into a forest hike until you come out at a mountain temple with views out over the Mogami River and even to Murayama Hayama and Gassan.

Where to from here?

I’m looking forward to a busy autumn. 

I’m organising a hike of Chokai-zan with a YouTuber friend of mine for the end of the month. Whenever you go to Chokai, it’s epic. I’m not sure which route we’ll take, probably the normal one from Hokodate, but I’d also like to try some other trails from the south. 

On October 8th, I’ve been invited to climb Murayama Hayama by a friend who works for Sagae City. There are two Hayamas in Yamagata Prefecture alone. This one is in Murayama. Japan should be covered with Hayamas, I’ll explain it later, but the ‘ha’ means ‘on the edge’, and Hayamas are always either part of or next to other main mountains, in this case the Dewa Sanzan. 

Anyway, since Sagae is on the exact opposite side of Gassan, it’s about a 2-hour drive, so I’m going to see if I can’t hit up any other peaks along the way (I’m looking at you Daizumori-yama, Murayama Tengu-yama, Taruishi-yama, and Otakane-yama!). 

Then Tate-yama in Murayama City is home to the Higashi-zawa Park that is famous for its roses. The roses should be out in full bloom this month, so I’m hoping to at least hit up this mountain this month, perhaps on the way to Futatsu-mori or somewhere else (although I wanted to save that one for the autumn leaves). 

So yeah, I’m looking forward to bringing all of these mountains to you, but for now, it’s back to editing the Yakushi-san video!

Tim.

Haguro-san is famous for its stone stairway in the middle of the cedar forest. Each of the 2,446 steps is a different height, a different shape, and a different depth as well. When you walk the steps, it is obvious that they were built for Japanese people a few centuries ago, rather than a 186cm-tall Kiwi Yamabushi in 2022.

I don’t know how many times I have climbed them, by now the number would be in the 100s. And over the years I’ve watched as usually after the rain, people slip and slide down the mountain, myself included at times. Every time though, the advice is always the same.

The trick to climbing 2,446 stone steps, is to climb 2,446 stone steps.

That’s right, the trick is to climb every. single. step.

Once you realise that getting too far ahead of yourself is a recipe for disaster, you make sure to walk every step. And that’s the way you guarantee you get through.

That’s how you climb 2,446 stone steps.

If you’re not getting around to things on your to do list, they are simply not enough of a priority. In the same breath, if you keep doing things at the last minute, they are simply not enough of a priority. Either you have too much on your plate, or you’re in the wrong line of work.

Things should be a definite yes when you agree to do them. The motivation to do the thing in the first place should be enough to at least get it started on time.

No lastminute-itis.

If you have an idea, it’s not yours. The idea belongs to all of us. Of course you can and should take credit for it, but you have to get it out there.

Often when we have ideas we imagine how things will play out. We have some sort of image in our heads of what it will look like. But when you put your idea out into the world, you start to notice a few things that need changing, a few improvements, and a few criticisms as well. This only comes about through fleshing out your ideas, and it makes them better for it.

If you sit on your ideas and let them fester, sure they might evolve into something better, but what is that something better worth if it isn’t out in the world?

You can’t choose your days. Nor would you want to. That a day doesn’t turn out as expected is a good thing. Expected is boring.

Not choosing your days means you get some variation. It also means you can appreciate the ‘good’ days more when they come, and also see the good in the ‘bad’ days too.

For example, today I was disappointed to get to the summit of Okina-san only for it to be completely shrouded in cloud. I couldn’t see more than 20m ahead of me, and for Okina-san this is a big deal. The summit has some of the best views this side of the Mogami.

That cloud provided protection from the harsh sun, as a cool breeze throughout. It also meant I got to see the beech forests under a blanket of mist, which was nothing short of magical. That says a lot for a mountain with Okina-Sans mythical history.

I wouldn’t have been able to see that side of Okina-san if it weren’t for the cloud, and for that I’m grateful.

Rejected? Let down? Disappointed?

Consider that they might be doing you a favour. In fact, they probably are.

At the very least they’re taking away part of the decision on whether to stick with them in the long run.

And when you find out they’re not worth it, that experience comes into play, gives you new perspective, and pushes you forward.

Every cloud truly does have a silver lining. It just might not be apparent in the moment.

What can I do to push things forward?

The perpetual question.

For who? For what? Why?

If you can answer these, you’ll always have something to do!

Then it’s just a matter of doing it.

Make a fuss. Find the people who either know or who want to know what the fuss is about. Let them share what the fuss is about. Rinse and repeat.

Besides coming up with ideas, perhaps the hardest part of writing is being strict on yourself when it comes to culling the bad. We feel so proud of what we’ve created that we forget about the main reason for doing the writing in the first place; creating a narrative for the reader. Excess language is like that friend who feels all silence needs to be filled, or in other words, tits on a bull. Let the moment carry the weight, let the reader fill in the gaps, let the writing do the work. Leave all the excess in the draft.

Last week when we were doing Yamabushi training there was one particular point where I was taken aback by the sheer simplicity of everything.

It’s impossible to truly understand this without being there, but at one point we were having a short rest (Shokyushi) at the base of Haguro-san.

And that’s it.

That’s all we were doing, taking a short break.

But I became antsy wondering when we would get a move on and finish the last part of training.

That’s when I realised. Or at least that’s when Master Hoshino helped me realise. Instead of waiting there for something to happen, stop and take everything in. We were in the middle of a forest with an amazing river and waterfall surrounding us, it doesn’t get much better than that. No need to hurry on to the next thing, or to hurry up and finish things.

It’s the journey not the destination, but sometimes the destination is all we can think about and we forget to stop and enjoy the journey.

So that’s what we were waiting for.

When you spend a lot of time out in nature, and on the mountains especially, you start to realise something crucial:

Mountains teach us when something is wrong, and they teach us to look for a new way forward. Mountains teach us who we are, and importantly remind us who we are too.

Mountains are the Mountains are the new (old) medicine. Mountains are the medicine we forgot we had.

I’ve been reading Dan Ariely’s work for the better part of a decade now, and his latest column in Ask Ariely in the Wall Street Journal touched close to home, but with surprisingly good insights especially for me.

There aren’t many people in my peer group I know of in the same situation as me. Only last week did I meet someone similar in age whose parents had both died, among other things, and I remember trying to describe my feelings to people but thinking throughout the whole experience ‘you don’t know what it’s like’.

Dan’s latest column touches on this and gives an insight I had never even considered. You would expect people who have gone through similar situations to have similar feelings, at least I did in the past. It turns out that might not be true at all, and in fact, although they may have had the same experience, they almost certainly wouldn’t have had the same feelings.

Which is all to say, if you think you need someone who has gone through a similar experience to be able to console you best, think twice. Rather, people who haven’t been through the experience, yet know you well, are well-situated to give you good advice. Remember this the next time you need a shoulder to cry on!

The only opinion you need is your own, and the first thing you need to look at is your effort.

Sam Whitelock, All Blacks captain

Is the effort there? If not, why not? Where can you do a better job in applying yourself?

Focus your effort on the things you can control. Your own effort should be the starting point.

Do first. Always. The best way to learn anything is to do it. It’s no use having someone explain an experience to you unless it’s to best help you learn from it. Explanations only come if and when necessary, and only when it adds to the experience. Anything else is wasting your and my time.

I saw a post recently by someone trying to build an audience on YouTube who was disappointed by their numbers and I guess it irked me.

You’re doing it wrong.

You have to do it for the love of it. You have to do it simply because you want to do it, simply because you enjoy the process. If you’re not, you’re wasting your time.

The numbers definitely help, they can definitely be motivating. But in the same breath, they can be demotivating. I’ve already been through both, well, mainly the latter. But I know that’s not what matters, yet at least.

You have to put in the reps first, and find if you like doing it enough to continue without worrying about the numbers. If this decision depends on the numbers, you won’t get very far. The only place numbers matters is the number of reps you put in.

In my case, I’ve given myself 100 mountains to learn to make effective videos. It’s a slow and long process that is a marathon, not a race. It’s a process, not something where results appear instantly, and nor should it be.

Appreciating without adversity is the holy grail. If you’re able to appreciate without having to go through tough experiences to do so, you win.

Going through adversity changes your perspective completely. Looking at people who haven’t had the same experience as you, it’s easy to see when they take things for granted.

What was once a given is now but a fantasy for you, but is still a given for them. When things are a given, it’s very hard to contemplate those things not being there.

This turns the focus on what you do have. It means that although you may have less, you value what you do have more than others. Even if it’s the same thing, adversity helps us learn to appreciate what we do have more.

So if you’re able to appreciate before adversity strikes, then you’re on to a winner. And after adversity strikes, remember to appreciate what you do have. It’s a lot.

In the west, we talk to psychologists to try and nail down the truth of what we are feeling. In stark contrast, the same results can be found on the mountains of Japan.

Yamabushi training gives us realisations we never realised you had. It shows just how fragile entirely at the whim of nature we are. However, at the same time, it shows us that nature is nurturing, nature gives us our existence, our sustenance, and our energy for the future. Yamabushi training is tough love, but it’s still love.

If you want realisations you never realised you had, spend some time on the mountains with the yamabushi. It’s life-changing stuff.

A life without drama, is a life full of boredom.

You can talk about doing the work, you can do things that aren’t the work itself but are at least related, and you can prepare to do the work.

Or you can do the work.

Sometimes the real work is knowing what the real work is.

Then it’s just a matter of doing it.

Indecisive people need decisive deadlines. If you’re dealing with someone who just can’t make up their mind, make up their mind for them. Give them a deadline by when to make the decision, or you will make it for them. Sometimes giving a default answer that will automatically be applied at the deadline is a good way of going about things as it can make making the decision easier.

You can even try this out on yourself as well.

You’re going to get criticised either way. Do what you can to reduce the criticism, but don’t let it get to you. Don’t let the potential for criticism get in the way of producing and shipping your best work.

Do whatever you can to put the work out there. And once it is out there, recognise that it is out there. No amount of criticism will change that fact, and it won’t change the work either.

In other words, focus on putting your best foot forward each and every time, and be proud when you do.

I love phrases that can go either way, and ‘I didn’t ask for this’ is one.

Usually I didn’t ask for this has a negative connotation, a response to an unexpected bad result.

But ‘I didn’t ask for this’ also has a good connotation; when you are pleasantly surprised by something someone does for you again unexpectedly.

What could you do to get the second response? How would the second response make you feel?

Provide generosity without expecting much in return, and you get what you ask for.

Even though I believe the best way to help others is to help yourself first, so you are then able to help them, this comes with a promise of generosity.

To be generous means to give even when you have none. It means to do things without asking, without expectation of reciprocation. To be generous means to help others, or to offer help even when people don’t know they need it.

When we’re generous, we’re making a promise to other people, showing that we respect them, that we trust them.

42.

I joke.

Modern psychology in the West tends to assume there is an answer somewhere and that if we could just talk enough we would be able to find it.

I don’t think there is an answer.

Or at least if there was one, it would be fluid.

The thing is, even if we were to find the answer, we’d either be left with more questions, or we would be bored.

We go into the mountains in search of the answers, and while we may find the answers to today’s problems, it doesn’t really help us for tomorrow’s.

And that’s fine.

This keeps us on our toes.

This keeps us wanting more.

This keeps us moving.

Which I think is the real answer.