The Yamabushi: A Japanese Mountain Cult
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2018
- A rare glimpse of one of Japan's oldest and most secretive societies that roam the wild northern Japanese Alps.
In August I spent nine days with the Yamabushi - a 1400-year-old cult of pre-Buddhist mountain ascetics - in the sacred Dewa Sanzen mountains. While in training the Yamabushi are not allowed to wash or brush their teeth. They eat one bowl of rice, a cup of watery soup, and a piece of pickle three times a day. They hike throughout the mountains, dressed in white and wearing brass bells that ring with every step.
The Yamabushi worship stones, trees, summits, lakes, and ancient sites. They are elusive folk, though if you hike deep into the sacred mountains and listen carefully, you may hear the haunting three-tone sound of their conchs carried on the wind. At night they chant for hours, then seal themselves inside a temple and pour pepper powder and rice husks onto a fire. For fifteen minutes they inhale the fumes, sometimes passing out. This is said to simulate death and eventual rebirth as a sacred being.
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Category: Travel
I feel like all city dwellers around the world should do this once a year. Humans did not evolve to live in large concrete cities, the wilderness is our true home. I think it would help mental health very much, a sort of cleansing of the rugged urban life instilled in our minds.
I like you as a documenter (is that the right word?), non intrusive, non judgemental, with a sense of humor. Thanks for your hard work.
Thank you for your kind words, Alfred!
@@OurHumanPlanet have you ever heard of this being a remnant of one of the lost tribes of israel?
I really emjoyed this great video!
Thank you!
This documentary is so sublime. I saw it in high school and have been looking for it ever since. A great inspiration to travel!
Thank you very much for this informative piece. This deserves more recognition. ^^
Thank you very much for uploading this short yet interesting and informative video
Thank YOU, Nhung tran!
thanks for your reporting.
i'm a yamabushi of Hagro Shygendo.
I live in Nagasaki Pre. it is so far from Yamagata.
But I go there for Yamabushi Shygyo.
Thank you for this wonderful video! Would love to see more about this topic!
Thank you, Rens!
The bells they have are also to keep the wildlife away (especially the bears)
this is such a nice yt channel, hope it grows a lot! cheers from Brazil 🇧🇷
Thank you so much, Henrik! :)
New sub. ! Recommended by the japan and homeless and now I'm here!
Thank you so much, Chris!
thank you for your hard work ❤️
Thank you, Htet!
Great content. You'd make an excellent public television travel host. Instant sub!
Thank you! :)
wow really informative
They look like tengu with that tiny hat.
I lived in Japan for 4 years, in Shikoku. I arrived at the same time as a guy, who did induction with me as a teacher, and he had come because he did his thesis on the yamabushi and chose the island of Shikoku. I wonder what he's up to now. Thanks to you for this lovely little document.
I'm impressed - not many people have personal experience with the Yamabushi! Thank you for your kind words, monoyamono :)
Such a lovely content, thanks a lot from 🇮🇳
Thank you, Direst Knight!
Poor guy kept falling into the water
Thanks, I actually learnt about the Yamabushi because I played a Japanese inspired RPG game a few years ago.
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Very nice and well done! Thank you for introducing our culture. Many Japanese don't have a chance to see them. I have been abroad for a while, and longer I am away, more I look back to rediscover my own roots. (And my son sometimes play the Hora-gai horn in his Taiko group. It is not easy to play nice.)
Thank you for your kind words, Atsuko!
Lovely documentary
I hope to make a pilgrimage there soon. The most spiritual experience I ever had was submitting a mountain after a severe injury and challenging myself and my own weakness.
Do it! It's the experience of a lifetime.... :). Let me know how it goes?
This really reminded me of the Shikoku Pilgrimage that I plan to go on soon. The same white robes. Do you know of it?
in marching band conditioning in high school my friend ate nothing but peanuts. the scorching heat reflecting from the turf and hours of marching and running and only peanuts, though he did go home every night
4:07 Orthodoxy increased to 100.
:D "The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts and Other Tales by Issai Chosanshi"
There is Sanmon jimon yamabushi
funny little picknic for the white sheets wrapped company 😉 Not sure what has to do with ascetism though 😏
1Q84 type beat
Supposedly this are remnants of one of the lost tribes of Israel...look into it.
Some of the Levites?
The word cult gives a wrong impression, in my opinion. It's rather a way to attain spiritual power through different practices based on a old religion believing in nature gods (animism).
You make a good point, particularly given the more modern denotation of the word. I used it in its older context "(a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object"). I can't change it now but will be more careful when narrating future documentaries. Thank you!
@@OurHumanPlanet Thank you too😊🙏
Why not just go to mcdonalds
Patriarchy is alive and not so well. Women are impure? Japan is Colonial and has been horrific to their indigenous people. Good to be in nature though