Tim Bunting - Kiwi Yamabushi

Kia ora koutou.

Ko Pukeatua te maunga.

Ko Te Awa Kairangi te awa.

He Yamabushi ahau nō Aotearoa.

I whakangungu ahau ki ngā maunga o Nipono.

Ko Tim tōku ingoa.

Pukeatua is my mountain.

Te Awa Kairangi my river.

I am a Yamabushi from Aotearoa New Zealand.

I train on the mountains of Japan.

I am Tim.

My Story

I am a bilingual yamabushi (mountain ascetic) from New Zealand living in Sakata, Yamagata, Japan.

I help run yamabushi shugyo (training) for English speakers with Yamabushido.

Kiwi Yamabushi Newsletter

In my spare time I introduce aspects of Japan and Japanese culture I have come across since I moved to Yamagata in 2010.

Here are my top ten posts for 2025:

Besides this newsletter I write a blog every day, and when I can, I make videos about little-known aspects of Japan and Japanese culture. Right now I’m on a mission to summit and document the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.

Here is a round-up of my Daily Yamabushi posts for 2025

And here are some of my most popular articles:

What does it mean to be ‘Spirited Away’?

Why is this Buddha EVERYWHERE in Japan?

The MONSTROSITY that is Tokyo Banana

The Badass Fudomyo’o: Your new Favourite Buddhist Deity

I work a few jobs to support my family and do this in any spare time I can make. If you like what you see and can afford it, supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber means you can get much more. Paid subscribers get access to the whole archive of my posts (over 100!) as well as priority access to new articles and videos when they come.

Free subscribers get the most recent posts and can look forward to a weekly update from me. I aim to send this out every Friday JST, so don’t forget to check your inbox then, or check out the most recent posts and archives here.

You can follow me on Medium, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter, or LinkedIn (all @kiwiyamabushi).