Yamabushi
Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some hijiri (聖) of the eighth and ninth centuries. According to author 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.”