Higashi Hongan-ji needs little introduction as one of Kyoto’s grandest temple complexes, standing just minutes from Kyoto Station behind the tower that bears the city’s name. What draws far less attention, even among the temple’s own visitors, is the bell tower tucked within its grounds — recently renewed, and quietly holding onto a retired bell with a history worth a closer look.
A Bell Tower Renewed in 2025
The bell tower at Higashi Hongan-ji underwent renovation in 2025, restoring its structure to a well-kept condition. The bell it now houses dates from 2010, rung daily according to a seasonal schedule: 4:50 am in summer, 5:50 am in spring and autumn, and 6:20 am in winter, struck eleven times each session. Little has been written about this renewal in English — a modest but concrete piece of the temple’s ongoing upkeep that tends to go unnoticed next to the scale of the Goei-do Hall nearby.
The Bell It Replaced: Cast in 1604, Retired in 2010
Before the current bell, an older one served the temple for over four centuries. Cast in 1604 (Keichō 9), it remained in use until 2010, when age finally caught up with it. That bell is still preserved on the temple grounds today, and it carries features that mark it as a genuinely old-style casting.
An “Ancient Bell” in Form: The Ryuzu Hook at a Right Angle
One detail sets the 1604 bell apart from most bells seen at Japanese temples today: its dragon-shaped hanging hook (ryūzu) is oriented at a right angle to the striking point, rather than in line with it. This right-angle configuration is a hallmark of what specialists call “ancient-style” bells (kodai-shō) — a casting convention that predates the more common parallel alignment seen in most bells made from the medieval period onward. Encountering it in a bell as relatively late as 1604 is itself a small point of interest for anyone tracking the evolution of bell-casting conventions in Japan.
Temple Bell
Story
Cast on Site — and Decorated with Celestial Beings and Phoenixes
According to temple records, the 1604 bell was cast within the temple grounds itself, rather than transported from an outside foundry — a detail that, if accurate, speaks to the scale of resources Higashi Hongan-ji could marshal even in its early years. The bell’s surface bore relief images of celestial beings (hiten) and phoenixes (hōō), executed in a raised casting technique. This kind of figural ornamentation is relatively unusual for a bonshō of this size and period, and it marks the 1604 bell as a work of genuine artistic ambition, not merely a functional timekeeping instrument.
Access
Higashi Hongan-ji Temple
Getting There
Karasuma-dori, Shichijo-agaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
A short walk from Kyoto Station’s Karasuma Central Exit, directly behind Kyoto Tower.
