KYOTO -- Seventeen priests at a Buddhist temple in this western Japan city have been getting into the swing of things ahead of a traditional New Year's Eve bell ringing event by practicing knocking out some resounding notes from the enormous instrument.

       Priests at Chion-in temple rehearse ringing the temple bell, in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward on Dec. 27, 2021 ahead of a New Year's Eve event. (Mainichi/Kazuki Yamazaki)

       At the Dec. 27 rehearsal at Chion-in in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward, the Jodo Shu sect's head temple, priests in the pavilion housing the colossal bell used a set of ropes to swing the huge wooden hammer. Water from melting snow dripped off the bell tower as the hammer glided into the bell and produced a deep, heavy ring that reverberated across the temple grounds.

       The hanging bell was cast in the early Edo period (1603-1867). It measures about 3.3 meters in height and 2.8 meters in diameter, and weighs some 70 metric tons. The bell hammer is around 4.5 meters long and weights some 350 kilograms.

       The hammer has one thick rope and 16 thinner ropes. The priest on the thick rope called out, "Yei hitotsu" (one more), and those using the thinner ropes mimicked the shout or responded with, "Sore" (now), as they drew the hammer back to strike the bell. As to why there are 17 priests manning the hammer, one theory has it that it represents Buddha and his 16 arhat disciples.

       On New Year's Eve, some 30 priests will alternately begin striking the bell at around 10:40 p.m. and ring it 108 times -- the number of human desires -- by around 12:35 a.m. on Jan. 1. No spectators were allowed for the 2020 edition due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the temple will accept 400 advance applicants this year. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube at: https://www.chion-in.or.jp/special/joya/ (in Japanese).

       (Japanese original by Yoko Minami, Kyoto Bureau)

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