Happy New Years 2024 From a very cold Yamagata mountaintop

The Shoreisai Festival on Mt. Haguro

Kia ora Koutou, Tim Bunting, Kiwi Yamabushi here on the Japan you never knew you wanted to know.

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I hate to have to do this, I wanted to send this earlier, but we are in the middle of a kind of state of emergency with the earthquakes and tsunami warnings. I felt the first earthquake, it wasn’t as big, nor as long as 3.11 (which I was in Japan for), but scary nonetheless. I live along the affected coast, but our family is safe and taking refuge at higher ground just in case. As the situation is ongoing, I can’t really say much more, but that you should follow advice from your local government and stay safe!

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I spent New Years at the Shoreisai, a festival on Mt. Haguro. I joined the Otaimatsu Hiki where we pull a giant effigy of a demon across a field to die a fiery death!

The Shoreisai is the conclusion of a 100-day yamabushi training called the Fuyu-no-mine, or Winter’s Peak in English. In it, groups representing two senior yamabushi, called Matsuhijiri, the ones who spend 100 days in training, compete against each other in a number of tasks to show which of the two Matsuhijiri have gained the most supernatural powers during that 100 days. This is the Gen part of Shugendo, from Genriki meaning supernatural powers. The burning of the effigy is but one of these tasks.

We wear what’s called a sarashi, a long piece of fabric that you wrap around your belly, and a happi jacket. Needless to say, it was cold. Very cold. But the burning demon provided much-needed warmth!

This year a few of our friends, including one who came all the way from The US, joined in. There was even a French guy who joined who had only found out about it when he got there!

If you’re looking for something interesting and fun to do for New Years, I couldn't recommend this more! If you’re there at the right time, (and unfortunately, if you have the right genitalia), you can take part as well.

Enough talk, here are some photos and a video for you!

A piece of rope from the demon I will hang up outside my front door for protection!

The Matsuhijiri Priest sits in this hut called a Shitsuraeya basically the whole night!

Video: Master Hoshino arriving to perform the Kuniwake rite.

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Daily Yamabushi for This Week

This is one of my favourite parts of the Shonai region called Tachiyazawa. There’s a giant river that flows down (I think from Mt. Gassan, not sure on that), and feeds all these rice fields before converging with the Mogami river. I recommend taking your bike out here!

Daily Yamabushi posts for the week of December 22 to December 28, 2023.

Read Daily Yamabushi for free at timbunting.com/blog or Medium.com.

1. The Path to Better

2. Insights and Impulses

3. Have Fun With It

4. You’re Seeing This Through

5. The Sweep

6. The Schrödinger’s River

7. The Creativity Muscle

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Mountains of Wisdom: Tell Your Friends

Earlier in the week I visited Kinowanosaku, the remains of a castle from around the time Japan first became unified. Before then, tribes of Emishi lived in this area and to the north! Just imagine people living here and getting those same views of Chokai! Kinowanosaku was apparently the destination for an ancient route to Tagajo City on the eastern coast too, going via Yozo-san!

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Ka kite ano.

Tim.