Joya no Kane
除夜の鐘 midnight bell is a Japanese Buddhist event held annually on New Year's Eve. The bell, or bonshō, is struck at midnight of December 31st, as a part of the Ōmisoka celebrations. Most temples ring the bell 108 times. It is celebrated mainly in Japan, but also in South Korea and at Japanese Buddhist temples around the world. It originates from a custom in Zen sects from Song Dynasty China, which Japanese Zen temples emulated from the Kamakura period and onward. The temple bell would be rung constantly, but starting in the Muromachi period, it became a vital event performed during New Year's Eve. In Zen temples it is performed at midnight on New Year's Eve to ward off the bad luck from northeastern direction (see ). Joya no Kane consists of 108 bell ringings at most temples. There are several possible explanations for the origins of the number 108, listed below, but there is no one correct answer. Some temples, especially those which allow laypeople to participate in ringing the bell, may go past 108 ringings, either with multiples of 108 or simply going to 200 or more. In Buddhism, there are 108 sins known as kleshas or 煩悩 in Japanese. These 108 are derived from the six senses (Āyatana) of sight, hearing, smell, taste, body, and mind. Each sense has three variations: pleasant, unpleasant, and even. These 18 variations have two further kinds: pure and impure. From those 36, there are three lifetimes to divide between: the past life, present life, and next life, for a total of 108 kleshas. One classification of dukkha identifies four kinds of suffering: birth, old age, disease, and death. Then, another four kinds of suffering are added: separation from loved ones, meeting of unpleasant ones, not getting what one seeks, and the pain of the five skandhas. Both 4 and 8 are multiplied by 9 and added to sum to 108. This explanation is attested in multiple sources, although the source of the 9 is not explained. In the traditional Japanese calendar, there are 12 months, 24 solar terms, and 72 microseasons (3 per solar term).
