noun
holy men who abstain from meat and cooked food
Historical Buddhist term for ascetics who practiced a strict diet of raw, uncooked foods, often associated with mountain hermits.
木食上人は、肉や火を通した食べ物を避けて修行した僧を指す。
Mokujiki shōnin refers to monks who practiced asceticism by avoiding meat and cooked food.
From 木食 (mokujiki, 'eating only raw plants/trees') + 上人 (shōnin, 'holy person, saint'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the term is conventionally associated with certain Buddhist ascetics.