National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

　　This is a small temple bell made of cast bronze. A double headed dragon (ryuzu) on the handle at the top of the bell bites the domed crown, while a sacred jewel is placed on the center of the head. The domed crown is divided into the inner and outer parts by a line and the main body is also divided into areas by horizontal belts (upper, middle, lower) and vertical lines. There are areas of bosses (chi), areas for inscription and areas for patterns, but bosses were not casted, and the lower rim wasn’t projected outside. Two striking panels with the eight-petaled lotus flower motif are placed at the right angles to the ryuzu. The center of the striking panels is high and positioned almost in the middle of the main body. The overall shape of the bell is vertically long, and the style is older than those in Myōshinji Temple in Kyōto and Kanzeonji Temple in Fukuoka Prefecture. According to an inscription on part of the vertical line, it was made in Chinese six dynasties, Taijian 7 (575). This bell is a precious precedent from the six dynasties period in China that is thought to have been the origin of Japanese temple bells.