Yamabushi (山伏) were Japanese mountain ascetics and warriors, mostly of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. For the most part solitary, they did form loose confederations, and associations with certain temples, and also participated in battles and skirmishes alongside samurai and sohei on occasion.

History

Yamabushi began as yamahoshi, isolated clusters (or individuals) of mountain hermits, ascetics, and 'holy men,' who followed the path of shugendo, a search for spiritual, mystical, or supernatural powers gained through asceticism. This path may or may not have had a founder, as the myths surrounding En no Gyoja are numerous and complex; he is quite similar to a Japanese Merlin in this way. Men who followed this path came to be known by a variety of names, including kenja, kenza, and shugenja. These mountain mystics came to be renowned for their magical abilities and occult knowledge, and were sought out as healers or mediums, known as miko. Most of these ascetics, in addition to their devotion to shugendo, studied the teachings of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, or the Shingon sect, established by Kobo Daishi in the 8th century. Shingon was one of the primary sects of Esoteric Buddhism, according to which enlightenment is found through isolation, and the study and contemplation of oneself, as well as nature, and esoteric images called mandala. Both the Shingon sect and the Tendai viewed mountains as the ideal place for this sort of isolation and contemplation of nature. In their mountain retreats, these monks studied not only nature and religious/spiritual texts and images, but also a variety of martial arts. Whether they felt they had to defend themselves from bandits, other monks, or samurai armies is questionable, but the idea of studying martial arts as a means to improve onself mentally and spiritually, not just physically, has always been central to Japanese culture, outside from the specific tenets of one religious sect or another. Thus, like the sohei, the yamabushi became warriors as well as monks.

As their reputation for mystical insight and knowledge grew, and their organization grew tighter, many of the masters of the ascetic disciplines began to be appointed to high spiritual positions in the court hierarchy. Monks and temples began to gain political influence. By the Nanboku-cho Period, in the 13th and 14th centuries, the yamabushi had formed organized cohorts called konsha, and these konsha, along with sohei and other monks began to take direction from the central temples of their sects. They assisted the Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempts to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, and proved their warrior skills to be up to the challenge of fighting professional samurai armies.

Several centuries later, in the Sengoku Period, yamabushi could be found among the advisors & armies of nearly every major contender for dominion over Japan. Some, led by Takeda Shingen, aided Oda Nobunaga against Uesugi Kenshin in 1568, while others, including the abbot Sessai Choro , advised Tokugawa Ieyasu. Many fought alongside their fellow monks, the Ikko-ikki, against Nobunaga, who eventually crushed them and put an end to the time of the warrior monks.

Weapons, Style, and Training

Like the other types of warrior monks, yamabushi were skilled in the use of a wide variety of weaponry. It should not be surprising to find references to them fighting with bow and arrow, or with sword and dagger. However, like the sohei and Ikko-ikki, the weapon of choice for the yamabushi was the naginata.

In addition to their spiritual or mystical abilities, yamabushi are often attributed with being skilled practitioners of ninjutsu, the art of the ninja. The mountain monks are known to have hired ninja to fight alongside them, and to aid them in various, more clandestine ways. And the ninja are known to have disguised themselves as monks or mountain ascetics, so as to pass unnoticed more easily in certain environments. Most likely, this is where the confusion can be said to have come from; it seems unlikely that any significant number of yamabushi would have become skilled in ninjutsu.

Yamabushi in Fiction

While most warrior monks in fiction are derived from Tibetan, Nepalese, or Chinese archetypes, the majority of those drawn from Japanese history are yamabushi. Splinter, the mentor to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has some aspects of the yamabushi in his character, and Usagi Yojimbo, a comicbook rabbit samurai created by Stan Sakai, often encounters yamabushi in his travels.

References

• Ratti, Oscar and Adele Westbrook (1973). Secrets of the Samurai. Edison, NJ: Castle Books.