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Where Cleaning Is Practice — and a Great Bell Rings Across a Vast Temple Ground
Sōji-ji, located in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, is one of the two head temples of the Sōtō Zen sect. Its…
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A Kanbun-Era Bell on the Mountain Path Where Young Yoshitsune Once Walked
Take the Eizan Electric Railway north from central Kyoto, and the line ends at Kurama Station — at t…
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A Morning Bell Amid the Student Quarter
Just beside Kyoto University, at the heart of the lively student district known as Hyakumanben, stan…
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The Sacred Cord and the Bell That Tolls Only for the Dead (Important Cultural Property)
At Shōrin-in, Ōhara, a single bell toll guided by a sacred white cord has carried the dead to the Pu…
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The Ancient Bell That Greets the Morning at a World Heritage Site (National Treasure)
Kōfuku-ji’s bronze bell, cast in 727 CE, is Japan’s second-oldest temple bell with a dated inscripti…
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The Bell Tower’s 2025 Renewal and the Phoenix-Adorned Bell It Replaced
Higashi Hongan-ji needs little introduction as one of Kyoto’s grandest temple complexes, standing ju…
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The Temple Held in Reserve for an Emperor’s Last Refuge
Twice in the nation’s gravest hours, this imperial monastery on the western edge of Kyoto was quietl…
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The Bell of the Lucky Cat Temple and the Legacy of the Ii Clan
Gotokuji in Setagaya — Tokyo’s “lucky cat temple” — is also the Ii clan’s family temple. Discover it…
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The 600-Year Journey of the Anchin–Kiyohime Bell
At Myōman-ji in Iwakura, Kyoto rests the legendary bell of the Anchin–Kiyohime tale — cursed at Dōjō…
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The Bell That Rang for Scholars, Not Prayers
Most temple bells in Japan were made to mark the rhythm of religious life: morning sutras, evening s…
