Temple Bell

Chiba's Oldest Dated Bell

The Temple Bell at Ganzoji, registered simply as 梵鐘 (bonshō), inscribed with the year 1264 and kept at Ganzoji Temple in Nagarayama, Nagara Town, Chiba Prefecture, is a Kamakura-period bronze bell designated an Important Cultural Property in 1976. It is 91 cm tall with a mouth 62.1 cm across.

Chiba Prefecture says it is the oldest bell in the prefecture with a dated inscription. It was cast by Hiroshina Shigenaga, whom the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes as a local founder living in Osakabe district of Kazusa Province.

A Bell Without Bosses

Most Japanese temple bells carry rows of nipple-like bosses, called chi, in their upper zone. This one has none. Instead, at the centre of each upper panel, it bears the seed syllable of one of the four Buddhas of the Womb Realm mandala, set in a circle on a lotus base. The upper band has a cloud pattern and the lower band an arabesque.

Chiba Prefecture calls bells without bosses extremely rare anywhere in Japan, and counts only three: this one, a signed bell at Kogakuji in Enzan, Yamanashi (now Koshu City), and a bell dug up in Ganzoji's own grounds in 1917, now in the Tokyo National Museum.

A mould seam above the central panels shows it was cast in two sections. The Agency for Cultural Affairs praises the sharp, vigorous dragon-head loop, the strong Kamakura character and the unusual decoration of the upper panels.

When Ganzoji Was Taizoji

The inscription shows the temple was once called Taizoji. According to Chiba Prefecture, Ganzoji was founded in 1013 as Narutakiji and renamed Taizoji after Minamoto no Yoritomo presented it with a Womb Realm mandala in 1192; the name Ganzoji dates only from the early modern period.

The Womb Realm seed syllables on this Temple Bell echo that old name.

Visiting

According to Chiba Tourism Navi, Ganzoji belongs to the Myoshinji branch of Rinzai Zen; inside the gate the main Shaka Hall stands ahead and the bell tower, the Tsuriganedo, to the left. No information on viewing the bell has been found, so contact the temple in advance if you hope to see it.

Ganzoji is at 414 Nagarayama, Nagara Town.