Symposium Japan - the Japanese awareness of bell
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Japanese temple bells are different from Korean and Chinese temple bells. These bells are believed to
have been introduced to Japan along with Buddhism. Although Buddhism originated in India, the
prototype of the Japanese bells does not come from India, but is believed to have been derived from a
set of chime bells, or “bianzhong” ( ) from ancient China.
Bonshō or temple bells are used as a religious instrument by Buddhists.
They are struck daily to announce the time in the morning and evening. The
sound is believed to relieve people from all kinds of suffering, and eventually
lead to enlightenment. Over time, the meaning and use of bells changed.
Sasamoto Shoji is a historian and professor emeritus of Shinshu University
(Faculty of Humanities). In his publication titled “Sound of Medieval
and Premodern Japan: bell sound connects layers of world” (1990), he analysed
the development of function and the meaning of bells, and their sound on the
context of the social vortex. In April 2016, he was appointed as director
of the Nagano Prefectural Museum of History.
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