Yamabushi (山伏, one who prostrates oneself on the mountain) are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits.[1] They are generally part of the syncretic shugendō religion, which includes Tantric Buddhist, Shinto, and Japanese Taoist elements.[2]
Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some hijiri (聖) (saints or holy persons) of the eighth and ninth centuries.[3]
According to American writer Frederik L. Schodt:
These positively medieval-looking nature worshipers carry metal staves and conch shells and wear straw sandals and sometimes a hemp cloth over-robe with the Heart Sutra written on it. They follow a mixture of esoteric or tantric Buddhism mixed with Shinto, the native animistic religion of Japan.[4]
^Nelson, Andrew Nathaniel (1995). The Original Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary (Classic ed.). Rutland, Vermont: C. E. Tuttle Co. pp. 134, 346. ISBN 9780804819657.
^"Exoteric Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhism, and Shugendo - 顕教・密教・修験道". www.tendai-jimon.jp. Tendaijimon Sect. Archived from the original on 2020-12-21. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
^Blacker, Carmen (1999). The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan (3rd ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Japan Library. pp. 165–167. ISBN 1873410859.
^Schodt, Frederik L. (2020). My Heart Sutra. Berkeley (Ca): Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-61172-062-4.
Yamabushi (山伏, one who prostrates oneself on the mountain) are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic shugendō religion...
perceived as a form of syncretism of Shintô 神道, religion and Buddhism. The Yamabushi 山伏, literally : "the men who sleep in the Mountain" (men who practice...
lapidation (death by stoning). It has traditionally been associated with the yamabushi, hermetic practitioners of the Shugendō religion, because they often used...
Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the garb of its followers, the yamabushi. The tengu in art appears in a variety of shapes. It usually falls somewhere...
Japan as yamabushitake (Kanji: 山伏茸, Katakana: ヤマブシタケ) in reference to the yamabushi or mountain ascetics of the syncretistic religion known as Shugendo; while...
to appear on the traditional list of emperors Kōshō Tateishi, Japanese yamabushi Kōshō Uchiyama (1912–1998), Japanese Sōtō priest and origami master Kōshō...
guerilla warfare in order to protect their lands from bandits, rogue yamabushi, and larger samurai forces. The jizamurai that lived in Kōka and Iga were...
worship as Animism is connected with mountain worship. Later, Shugenjas and Yamabushis, who were descended from Esoteric Buddhism and Taoism, went deep into...
(1995). The Gods Come Dancing: A Study of the Japanese Ritual Dance of Yamabushi Kagura. Ithaca, NY: East Asia Program, Cornell University. ISBN 978-1-885445-67-4...
2012. Retrieved 2 October 2022. "La NUIT DES CHAMPIONS, les résultats". Yamabushi.ch. 15 November 2011. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved...
three sacred mountains. Every year, mountain ascetic devotees known as yamabushi - which are laymen practitioners of shugendo - pay reverence to the Dewa...
(1868–1912) torii were routinely adorned with plaques carrying Buddhist sutras. Yamabushi, Japanese mountain ascetic hermits with a long tradition as mighty warriors...
hora is especially associated with the Yamabushi, ascetic warrior monks of the Shugendō tradition. The yamabushi used the trumpet to signal their presence...
humanity since 2011. Hayachine Kagura – a form of dances derived from Yamabushi (a mobile group that embraces ascetic lives to gain power). This genre...
and so I set out to try and figure it out. And there was a group of Yamabushi Buddhists, Ajari [real name Neville Warwick, 1932–1993, a physician also...
biddings of their masters, called kitsune-mochi or "fox-possessors". The yamabushi or lay monks training in the wild have the reputation of using kiko (気狐...
Homa ritual (護摩, goma) as a purification tool. Lay persons or monks in yamabushi gear who go into rigorous training outdoors in the mountains often pray...
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