User:Peaceray/sandbox/New Year's Eve bell

The New Year's Eve bell (Joyanokane) is one of the annual events held during the year-end and New Year holidays in Japanese Buddhism. It is the ringing of temple bells during the hours before midnight on December 31st, the night of New Year 's Eve. The New Year's Eve bell is rung 108 times at many temples.

Origin
It is said to have originated from the custom of Zen temples during the Song Dynasty in China, and in Japan, Zen temples followed suit and tolled bells in the morning and evening after the Kamakura period, but in the Muromachi period, it was an essential event for New Year's Eve from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day. It is said that it became. It is said that it was held at Zen temples at the turn of the year to ward off evil spirits from the demon gate (northeast direction).

Origin of 108
The New Year 's Eve bell is rung 108 times at many temples. There are several theories about the origin of the number `` 108 '', but it is not known which one is correct.


 * number of earthly desires
 * There is a theory that it is the number of human desires . The six roots of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are associated with good (feeling good) and bad (dark) feelings. There are 18 categories such as ``bad  and ``hei, and each of these 18 categories has 2 categories, ``jo and ``sen, which are 36 categories.These 36 categories are divided into previous lives and current lives.・It becomes 108 when distributed to the next three generations, and represents the number of          earthly desires of humans.


 * hard work
 * There is a theory that it is the sum of shiku (36) and hachiku (72) in the meaning of shikuhakku.


 * 1 year
 * There is a theory that the sum of 12, which is the number of the moon, 24, which is the number of the 24 solar terms, and 72, which is the number of the 72 seasons, makes 108, which represents one year.

Furthermore, depending on the temple, the number of times the temple is struck is not fixed at 108 times, but may be more than 200 times.

Religion
The New Year's Eve bell was originally an event held at Zen temples. However, as mentioned below, it is said to have spread throughout Japan through radio broadcasts in the early Showa period.

Some Jodo Shinshu temples ring New Year's bells on New Year's Eve, but Higashi Hongan-ji Temple, the head temple of the Otani sect of Shinshu Buddhism, does not ring New Year's bells because ``according to the teachings of Shinran Shonin, there is no idea of ​​getting rid of earthly desires. '' Furthermore, at Nishi Hongan-ji Temple, the head temple of the Hongan-ji school, the bell is rung before memorial services and to pray for peace, and does not ring the bell on New Year's Eve.

Manners
Before ringing the bell, people put their palms together toward the bell.

Regarding the timing of ringing the bell, there are some temples that ring their bells throughout the year and those that ring their bells starting at midnight in the new year.


 * Temples that ring their bells throughout the year - The bells ring at various times, such as 23:00, 23:30, and 23:45. Among temples that strike 108 times, 107 of the 108 strikes occur in the old year (December 31st), and the remaining one strikes in the new year ( January 1st ).
 * Temples that open at midnight in the new year include Zojoji, Sensoji , and Naritasan Shinshoji.

Radio broadcast
According to Associate Professor Noboru Hirayama of Kanagawa University, the custom of ringing the New Year's bell was forgotten during the Meiji period, but spread throughout the country through radio broadcasts in the early Showa period.

It was broadcast live for the first time in history on the radio of JOAK (Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation, the predecessor of NHK Broadcasting Center) in 1927 at Kan'eiji Temple in Ueno, Tokyo. This led to the custom of ``Joya no Kane '' becoming widely established in Japan. Even at Chion-in Temple, the head temple of the Jodo sect, the earliest record of the New Year's bell is from around 1928 (Showa 3) or 29 (4), and it is said that it was started at the request of a radio station.

Wartime bell
In 1941 (Showa 16), Japan entered World War II. At the end of December, the Japanese army won the Battle of Hong Kong. In this year, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation played a recording of the gunfire during the capture of Hong Kong instead of the radio broadcast of the New Year's bell. As the war situation began to deteriorate, many temple bells were lost due to metal collection orders, and New Year's Eve bells could no longer be rung. For this reason, some temples used large drums instead.

Changes in the New Year's Eve bell
Due to the aging of priests and priests and complaints from nearby residents about the noise, some temples have decided to hold or cancel the play during the daytime on New Year's Eve. There are two arguments against this movement: ``It's not a noise and there's no need to stop it easily '' and ``It's a culture that has spread through the spread of radio, so there's no need to be obsessed with late-night activities. ''

For example, Fumonji Temple (Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture ) is located in the mountains, and there are no street lights in the area. It is held from noon as ``The Bell of Misoka. '' In addition, at Ryukokuji Temple (Namekawa City, Toyama Prefecture ), the New Year's Eve Bell will be held from 2021 ( Reiwa 3) in consideration of the decrease in the number of worshipers due to the declining birthrate and aging population, and the danger of freezing and snowfall on the stone stairs at night. It has been changed to 2:30 p.m. ]

Broadcast
NHK's " Yukunen Kuru Nen " broadcasts the New Year's Eve bell ringing at temples all over Japan as the New Year begins, and the original title of "Yukunen Kuru Nen" was "Joya no Kane." .