Dōtaku
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Dōtaku are richly decorated Japanese bells cast in bronze. They were used for about 400 years, between the second century BCE and the second century CE, and were used almost exclusively as decorations
A Yayoi period dōtaku, 3rd century
Dōtaku (bell-shaped; bronze), Yayoi period, 1st-2nd century A.D.
Bonshō
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Bonshō, also known as tsurigane or ōgane are large bells found in Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapp
Dōtaku
…evidence, researchers do believe that the pictures aren’t just casual pictures drawn for the sake of art, that there is some other meaning behind them. Bonshō Bronze-casting…
Bonshō at Ryōan-ji – the lotus-shaped tsuki-za (striking panel) is visible at the front, and the suspended beam known as a shu-moku hangs in the background
Toyohara Chikanobu, The Giant Bell, c. 1890 ukiyo-e triptych depicting Benkei stealing the Mii-dera bonshō
"Kokka ankō"; the disastrous inscription of the Hōkō-ji bell