Yamabushi - Tim Bunting

山伏

Yamabushi: The ancient mountain dwellers of Japan

キウイ

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi on Mt. Gassan

What are Yamabushi?

For starters, the only way to really understand what yamabushi are, is to become one yourself. However, I understand this isn’t exactly practical for most people, so I will give a rudimentary introduction of my understanding of yamabushi.

In short, Yamabushi are the mountain dwellers of Japan, practitioners of the ancient belief of Shugendo, the way (do) of attaining divine natural powers (gen) through ascetic practices (shu). Otherwise known as Shugenja, ‘those who practice Shugendo’, the word yamabushi comes from Yama (山) meaning mountain, and fushi or fuseru (伏せる), meaning to promulgate, or to be on all fours. This is because yamabushi are often found crawling all over the mountains during Shugyo ascetic training.

What do yamabushi do?

Now, I’m not allowed to divulge too much for two reasons; one, because I have been sworn to secrecy, and two, because the training is meant to emulate a time before we are born, so we are not supposed to remember what happens during training.

However, yamabushi training and practicing Shugendo essentially involves partaking in a number of rituals while out in nature. We see walking in silence in nature as a powerful form of meditation, and also take part in other rituals such as waterfall meditation and jumping over fire. There are many schools of yamabushi throughout Japan. I practice under Dewa Sanzan Shrine on Dewa Sanzan, the three sacred mountains of Dewa here in the centre of Yamagata Prefecture, and Daishobo Pilgrim’s Lodge run by our very own Yoda, Master Hoshino.

It’s important to note that my experience is only limited to the Dewa Sanzan Shrine yamabushi trainings, the only primarily Shinto yamabushi trainings in Japan, and through Daishobo pilgrim's lodge under Master Hoshino.

For those who want to know how I became a yamabushi, and how you too can become a Yamabushi, watch this video

My experience climbing Mt. Gassan, Dewa Sanzan's 'Mountain of Death'

What is Uketamo?

Yamabushi have been practicing Shugendo on Dewa Sanzan for over 1400 years, and centuries of wisdom passed down through the generations can be condensed down to one concept: Uketamo, which we translate into English as 'I accept'.

According to Master Hoshino, ‘Uketamo is both the philosophy and field of study of those who put themselves in nature, use their senses to feel, then reflect on what they feel’.

Sounds simple, right? Get out into nature, sense, then reflect on what you sense. However, simple and easy are two different things.

The activities we partake in come from centuries and centuries of our ancestors’ trial and error for one goal: attain knowledge from nature. Since ancient times in Japan, mountains have been regarded as a sacred location that holds life’s secrets. We follow the rituals and rites that generations and generations of ancestors took part in and passed down, all in the hope that we can better tune our senses and learn from nature.

Why Do Yamabushi Train on Mountains?

Mountains, or nature in general, is believed to be covered in knowledge incomprehensible to humans through written or spoken means, and spending time in the mountains is seen as a way to absorb this knowledge. In addition, mandala, the kind that hold the deepest wisdom of the Buddha, are believed to be projected onto mountains, and some places on the mountains are named after specific places seen in mandala. Thereby walking on the mountains is akin to walking through these mandala and again to absorb the knowledge.

How Japanese people can be Shinto and Buddhist at the same time

Mt. Chokai, former Dewa Sanzan peak that looks over us here in Sakata

Are there Yamabushi all over Japan? How did Shugendo develop?

Shugendo developed in the 7th century through a combination of primitive folk practices, pre-Buddhist mountain worship, Vajrayana or Esoteric Buddhism, known as Mikkyo in Japanese, Shintoism, and Taoism. The beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems of these religions were organised into a doctrine by En no Gyoja, also known as En the Ascetic. En no Gyoja then spread Shugendo all over Japan, and most, if not all, taller mountains in Japan, including Mt. Fuji have had a history of yamabushi training there.

The three biggest locations for Shugendo in Japan historically were Dewa Sanzan here in Yamagata, Omine and Kumano in Wakayama and Nara Prefectures to the south of Osaka, and Mt. Hiko in Fukuoka. All three areas suffered huge losses over the centuries, but are seeing a revival of sorts in recent years. More on that below.

How many types of yamabushi are there?

So, Yamabushi sprung up all over Japan, and often they practiced Shugendo under the guise of Tendai and Shingon Buddhism, the two esoteric Buddhism sects of Japan founded by the monks Saicho and Kukai respectively, as these two sects were seen to closely follow the beliefs of Shugendo.

On the Dewa Sanzan alone, and Mt. Haguro specifically, there are two main schools of yamabushi who essentially train side by side; the Buddhist Haguro Shugen yamabushi of Shozen’in Koganedo Temple, and Shinto the yamabushi of Dewa Sanzan Shrine.

From Mt. Maya, a former Shugendo peak near Dewa Sanzan

The Buddhist Haguro Shugen Yamabushi on Dewa Sanzan

The Buddhist Haguro Shugen yamabushi are the original yamabushi of Dewa Sanzan, having trained there for over 1,000 years, much longer than the Shinto yamabushi who currently run Dewa Sanzan.

I mentioned that my experience is only as a Dewa Sanzan Shrine and Daishobo pilgrim lodge yamabushi. This means that I am a primarily Shinto yamabushi which puts me deeply in the minority. The Shinto yamabushi were formed when the Dewa Sanzan was forcibly switched to Shintoism, following the decree to abolish Buddhism, and eventually Shugendo, during the Meiji Restoration in the 1870s.

Becoming a Certified Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi

To become a certified Dewa Sanzan yamabushi, one must complete the weeklong Akinomine Autumn’s Peak ritual that happens once a year at the end of August. The Buddhist version of which begins on August 24th, and the Shinto version on the 25th. Both groups train alongside each other, staying only about 500m away from one another in a secret location on the Dewa Sanzan.

Up until the Meiji Restoration, there was only one type of Akinomine Autumn’s Peak Ritual, the Buddhist version. However, as far as I can tell, there was an attempt to abolish the Buddhist Autumn’s Peak Ritual during the Meiji Restoration. The townspeople weren't having a word of it, and they still practiced in an act of defiance against the newly-christened Dewa Sanzan Shrine. During this time, the townspeople were so adamant to continue the Autumn’s Peak Ritual, and also the Fuyunomine Winter’s Peak Ritual, that Dewa Sanzan Shrine initiated their own version of both, which still continue to this day. That is why there are two main schools of yamabushi on the Dewa Sanzan, the original Buddhists, and now the Shinto yamabushi.

Since ancient times, Yamabushi training on Mt. Haguro has been based around The Ten Realms of Buddhism, with yamabushi undertaking rituals that emulate each of these realms. A very in-depth article about this can be found here. For their Akinomine Autumn’s Peak Ritual, the Shinto Shrine essentially copied the Buddhist training and put a Shinto flair on it, for example by praying to the Kami instead of the Buddha, and not visiting certain sites with deep Buddhist history (for more on this, you’ll have to join the training).

My yamabushi philosophy

Contrary to what a popular video on YouTube says, no, yamabushi are not part of a cult.

Are there full-time yamabushi?

In the past (as far as I can tell, up until the Meiji Restoration), Mt. Haguro was covered in Buddhist temples, and in these temples lived full-time Buddhist monks who were also yamabushi (the two are not mutually exclusive). These yamabushi were known as Seiso Shugenja, which literally means ‘Shugenja (yamabushi) disallowed from having wives’.

On the other hand, Mt. Haguro is home to a village of Shukubo pilgrim lodges that must be run by yamabushi, and these yamabushi were called ‘Saitai Shugenja’, literally yamabushi who are allowed to have wives’. These Saitai Shugenja still exist, such as Master Hoshino and Master Hayasaka of Daishobo and Daishinbo pilgrim lodge respectively.

In a way you could call Master Hoshino a full-time yamabushi, although that is because he is retired and now running Daishobo pilgrim lodge full-time. All yamabushi, even those running the Shukubo, either have had a full-time job in the past, or are currently retired. The Seiso Shugenja who lived in the temples of Mt. Haguro have completely disappeared.

Satoyama Yamabushi: Those from outside the region

Then, there are what are known as Satoyama Yamabushi, or yamabushi who are neither Seiso nor Saitai yamabushi, but are from areas outside the Dewa Sanzan. These are yamabushi who would periodically make the voyage to the Dewa Sanzan and undertake Shugyo training.

These days the majority of yamabushi are Satoyama Yamabushi, myself included, who converge from all over the world to the Dewa Sanzan annually to take part in the Akinomine Autumn’s Peak Ritual. These yamabushi must be affiliated with a Shukubo pilgrim lodge, or directly with Dewa Sanzan Shrine. In my case, I belong to Daishobo pilgrim lodge.

Sanze village near Mt. Fujikura surrounded by green mountains and the blue Sea of Japan can be seen through the trees in the distance through the trees of Mt. Fujikura

Sanze seen from Mt. Fujikura, one of the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata I am attempting to climb

Shukubo Pilgrim Lodge and other Yamabushi Trainings on Dewa Sanzan

To make matters even more confusing, some of the yamabushi who run the Shukubo offer their own forms of yamabushi training, such as Master Hoshino whose training combines elements of both the Buddhist and Shinto Akinomine Autumn’s Peak Rituals in a true Shinbutsu-Shugo, fused Shinto and Buddhist fashion, as it was before the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

It is also possible to join yamabushi training through the Ideha Cultural Memorial Museum run by Tsuruoka City. However, this group is not allowed to associate with any religion, and so chanting Buddhist, Shinto, or Shugendo prayers is out of the question. For me, this takes away the entire point of the training, even if you don’t believe in what you are chanting, but should be a good experience nonetheless.

All these trainings follow Shugendo and therefore have the same basic principle; go out into nature, use your senses to feel, then reflect on what you feel. In that regard, a Yamabushi’s job is to take people out and show them different facets of nature, and letting nature be the teacher. This doesn’t change depending on who you are training with, what does change is who or what you pray to, and how you pray to them.

My Experience Doing Yamabushi Training

To date, I have participated in two types of training; the weeklong Akinomine Autumn Peak Ritual of Dewa Sanzan Shrine, where I officially became a yamabushi, and Master Hoshino's Daishobo yamabushi trianing. Master Hoshino’s training is the only one (that I know of) to combine both Shinto and Buddhist rituals and beliefs based on Shugendo, which is a religion formed when the two religions were amalgamated.

Master Hoshino’s training I find is also the most practical, relying more on getting out in nature than on strictly following the rituals, although of course these are an important part, without which you can’t call it Yamabushi training.