noun
mountain folk; hermit
Refers to people who live in the mountains, often with a nuance of being removed from ordinary society; can also imply a recluse or hermit-like figure.
昔、この山には山人が住んでいたという。
They say that mountain folk once lived in these mountains.
彼は都会を離れ、山人のような暮らしを始めた。
He left the city and began living like a mountain hermit.
noun
mountain wizard
Only with reading やまびと
Specifically read やまびと; a legendary or mystical figure living in the mountains, akin to a 仙人 (immortal sage).
See also: 仙人
その昔話には、不思議な力を持つ山人が登場する。
In that old tale, a mountain wizard with mysterious powers appears.
noun
pseudonym element (artist/writer)
Only with reading さんじん
Read さんじん; used as part of a pen name or artistic pseudonym, often evoking a mountain-dwelling hermit image.
彼は「〇〇山人」という号で作品を発表している。
He publishes his works under the pseudonym '〇〇 Sanjin'.
仙人 is a more common term for a Taoist immortal or mountain sage; 山人 (やまびと) in sense 2 is a rarer, more folkloric variant.
Compound of 山 (mountain) and 人 (person). The reading やまびと is native Japanese, while さんじん is Sino-Japanese. The pseudonym usage derives from the image of a mountain-dwelling recluse.