Podcasts, witch's eyes, Japan's Medusa and the Mountains of Yamagata
Mountains of Wisdom Newsletter for week ending March 3, 2023
Interview on U n’ I Podcast with Rashmi Shetty
Self-expression coach Rashmi Shetty reached out to me after I was mentioned in The Times of India. Rashmi is an incredible individual who coaches CXOs, and is committed to empowering women everywhere, a very valid cause especially for someone living in Japan (the role of women is by far the biggest difference between Japan and NZ).
I was humbled when Rashmi asked me to join her award-winning podcast U n’ I. This week I gladly took part in a conversation that included reflections on my childhood in NZ, and my thoughts on many aspects of yamabushi training, such as waterfall meditation.
Here’s an extract from the conversation:
Listen to the whole episode on your favourite platform here: Anchor, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon podcasts, or YouTube.
Or find Rashmi on LinkedIn here.
100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata Project Update
You guys, I finally did it. I conquered the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.
Or at least, I made hiking guides for each mountain.
Probably the first thing to say is that I’ve really put myself in the deep end. Not only do I physically have to climb all the mountains (71 left!), I have to find a way of communicating the charm of each mountain effectively to the outside world.
Having gone through and translating all 100, this is not going to be an easy task.
As previously mentioned, the stories on these mountains are extremely wide-ranging. From multiple mountain castles, to crystal peaks, tons of mountains with mythical beasts such as tengu, tengu, tengu, sumo-wrestling tengu, witch’s eyes, Japan’s version of Medusa, and hermit caves, and I’m just brushing the surface here, Yamagata Prefecture’s mountains alone provide enough content to keep a yamabushi entertained for a lifetime.
Plus, I haven’t even started with the onsen hot spring resorts, which I will have to start doing now that Rona’s on her way out. Thankfully, I did get to mention another Yamagata staple, Ramen. Although there is a lot more to uncover there as well.
Either way, you should probably just go to Yamagata.
Speaking of which
Quinlan from Go North Japan just released this incredible video about Yamagata Prefecture’s safflower trade. I was aware that safflower was one of the main crops that made Yamagata, and Sakata City in particular, one of the richest places in Japan before WWII.
I had no idea of the effort that went into producing the safflower, nor how far back in time the safflower went.
Watch the video to see what I mean.
On the blog this week
Besides coining Yamagata Prefecture’s new slogan, this week was all about how acceptance is always a core part of self-development. This is both in terms of reflection, thinking about the future, making the most of every encounter, our obligation to the universe, and how we should go about life to live it to the fullest.
That’s it for this week
If you think your mum would enjoy this, go ahead and share it with her. Or someone else, I guess.
Let me know what you enjoyed, and if you didn’t like anything, hit the unsubscribe button. You know you want to.
Get more content on the little-known side of Japan and Japanese culture on my blog, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Ka kite ano.
Tim.