Blog - Tim Bunting

山伏

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi on Mt. Gassan

キウイ

DAILY YAMABUSHI

Someone Better?

November 17, 2025

Good.

The Real Win

November 16, 2025

Every day is a gift

Muscle Weighs More Than Fat

November 15, 2025

Trust the Process

The haters can hate, but you can’t let them win

November 14, 2025

Do the work

How To Get Back Up To Pace

November 13, 2025

In Any Endeavour

Turn to yourself

November 12, 2025

Use don’t study

Everything is an Experiment

November 11, 2025

With a long enough timeframe

FEATURE ARTICLES

Here are a few samples of what you find in my newsletter, Mountains of Wisdom.

My Love Affair with North Japan’s Tallest Peak

Chokai-san: The Sparkling Gem in Tohoku's Eye

It’s eel day. Don’t mow your lawn.

And the Japanese Colonel Sanders’ golden idea

Autumn’s Peak Ritual 2024

Joining a Yamabushi Initiation Ritual

Mongols, Kamikaze, and a mountain in northern Japan

The Legend of Haguro-san's Bell Tower

This Yamabushi Brought Me To Tears

A story from yamabushi training

Japan is in the year 2683?

I asked the proprietor when the original temple was built.

The Deep Meaning Behind Tea Ceremony’s Most Famous Concept

Ichigo Ichie - One moment, one meeting. One chance in a lifetime.

How Cup Noodles and Kawaii Culture made Axolotls famous in Japan

At the time, The Unlimited Teddy Bear was watching footage of Minecraft axolotls in English when they realised the English word for Axolotl was, in fact, Axolotl.

I spent a week in the Japanese mountains training as an ascetic.

Here's what I learned.

The real star of Japanese cuisine

How this humble plant made it to the top of my list of Japanese foods

Uketamo and What The Mountains Teach You

Stop for a moment to be in the moment

Can you believe this is *not* Tokyo?

Well, can you?

Hand holding chopsticks drawing, vintage

Why we eat what we eat at Obon

How to prove you are smarter than a Japanese person.

The Slow Demise of the Japanese City

One Traffic Light at a Time

Don’t trust the chrysanthemums.

The forgotten festival and Japanese cultural faux pas #2934

MOUNTAINS OF YAMAGATA

Here are a few posts of my adventures climbing the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.

A Ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn) at Semi Onsen Hot Spring Resort

Turtles, Tigers, and a Legendary Japanese Character: Kamewari-yama (Mt. Kamewari)

Legendary location next to a quaint Onsen (hot spring) resort along the Oguni River in Mogami Town

Close Encounters of the Tengu Kind

(Murayama) Tengu-yama is a 403-m high peak in Nishikawa town that is home to a Tengu, a yokai or supernatural being.

Mother. Hunter. Mountain. Hokari-yama (Mt. Hokari)

Kinbo Shugen Mountain with a strange name and amazing trails amongst the autumn leaves

Why This Tiny Mountain MUST be on Your Japan Itinerary: Haguro-san

Home to Haguro Shugendo and the Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi mountain monks

A Jizo statue at the top of Mt. Kyogakura in Sakata

Womb Passes and Monkey Crossings: Kyogakura-san “The Shugendo Peak of Sutras” (Mt. Kyogakura)

This tiny Shugendo peak and how the Japanese language got three alphabets

The Swamp Monster of Yozo

Ancient trail of primeval beech forests, legendary swamp monsters, waterfalls, snow bridges, and more.

Mt. Chokai seen from Mt. Yonetaihei in the winter

Homer Simpson’s Heaven in North Japan: The Donut-shaped Yonetaihei-san (Mt. Yonetaihei)

Tiny donut-shaped peak in Sakegawa Village of the Mogami region worthy of a snowshoe hike.

Mt.-Takadate-and-Shimoike-lake-in-Tsuruoka

Wetland Wonderland of Takadate-yama

Takadate-yama is short in stature, but packs a lot of punch as home to one of the only RAMSAR wetlands in Japan

How NOT to climb a mountain in winter

Forget Hakuba. Forget Hokkaido. White-Boy Mountain is where it’s at.

I found an abandoned ski field in Japan

Short and quick hike with views of Chokai-zan and near the Mogami River, Shiraito Falls, and Genso no mori, the Forest of Illusions.

Mt. Yudono Shrine Gates during the autumn

The Dewa Sanzan’s Mountain of Rebirth: Yudono-san (Mt. Yudono)

Yudono-san is the final Dewa Sanzan peak in the middle of Yamagata Prefecture that has been a central destination for millions over the centuries

Panoramas and picnics under the Sakura: Kita-yama (Mt. Kitayama)

Former ski field turned into a Sakura-lover’s paradise on the outskirts of Murayama City

Venerable Old Man Mountain — The Mist and Mystery of Okina-san (Mt. Okina)

Legends and landscapes on an epic hike along the Ou Mountains

The best Fuji alternative: Chokai-san

Dewa Fuji, The Fuji of The North, Chokai-san, Mt. Chokai: Tallest peak entirely in Tohoku often said to resemble Mt. Fuji, leading to the name Dewa Fuji (after the former province of Dewa).