What fūtaku means
A fūtaku is a bell-shaped chime hung from the four eave corners of pagodas and Buddhist halls or from a pagoda's finial spire. It is cast in bronze, sometimes gilded, with a clapper hanging inside and a small plate at its end to catch the wind so that the bell rings as it sways.
Ancient temples commonly hung fūtaku from the eaves of pagodas and main halls, and excavations of temple sites yield both bells and clappers. In excavations by the Nara City board of education at the site of the west pagoda of Daianji, bells of two sizes were found, the larger thought to have hung from the eaves and the smaller from the spire.
Reading the records and the building
As cultural properties, fūtaku survive either attached to buildings or as excavated objects classified as archaeological material. The Nara National Museum holds gilt-bronze fūtaku of the Asuka period said to come from the Kamino temple site in Wakayama City, and the Tokyo National Museum holds a gilt-bronze fūtaku and an iron clapper excavated from the Shuzan temple site in Ukyo, Kyoto.
On standing pagodas, fittings or holes for hanging fūtaku may survive at the ends of the corner rafters. On site, look up at the corners of the eaves for hanging bells or the traces of their fittings.
References
- 風鐸（伝和歌山県上野廃寺出土）｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/215013
- 金銅製風鐸（周山廃寺址出土）｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/472064
- 史跡大安寺旧境内（塔院地区）の発掘調査｜奈良市
- https://www.city.nara.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/4802.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.26