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2nd - 1st century B.C. artefact unearthed at Kagawa. |
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Kamoiwakura ruins, Shimane prefecture: 39 bronze bells unearthed -- the largest cache of bronze bells ever found! |
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4th - 1st century B.C. Yayoi bell that was made on the Korean peninsula |
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From the collection of the Tokyo National Museum |
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2nd - 1st century, Uzumoridai, Higashinada-ku, Kobe city, Hyogo |
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1st - 3rd century A.D., Akagaya site, Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka prefecture |
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The bells were sounded when the stone or bronze clapper suspended inside the bell struck the inside of the bells where the raised bands were. There are traces of wear on the raised bands where the clappers struck. They were ceremonial bells hung from a tree by a cord tied to the bell's handle during rice harvest festivals to summon their deities. They were first seen in Japan from the beginning of the Yayoi period (400 B.C. to 300 A.D.). Some of them were made on the Korean peninsula, China and others locally in Japan. |
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Relief on the bell shows a turtle |
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Animal relief probably of some long-necked bird like a heron or crane. |
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Relief shows an animal that resembles the Japanese serow or goat. |
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Clearly a hunting scene. Man hunting a wild boar. Dog in the background. |
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All images photographed at the Tokyo National Museum with permission, excepting the top row middle photograph which is courtesy of the Nippon-Kichi website. |
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