Wind Bell Festival
This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of joining my friend Tomoko and visiting a wind bell festival near her hometown of Kawasaki, Japan.
It was raining on and off for most of the day, but that didn't seem to deter anyone from coming out. The festival was held at the Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji temple right off of the Kawasaki-daishi train stop. The temple complex itself was huge and I would like to come back when the weather is nicer.
Tomoko told me that artisans from all over Japan came to this temple once every year to showcase and sell their wind bells. From Nagasaki to just short of Hokkaido, wind bell makers had their wares displayed from the ceiling. Sometimes when it wasn't windy, they would use hand fans to make the bells chime.
The blue signs indicated what the company name was and where they were from.
There were glass ones, ceramic ones, metal ones, bells made out of live plants, and even bells made out of solid silver and gold. There was a table at the front of all the stalls and on the table was a gold bell being guarded by two men. Tomoko talked to them and found out that this small golden bell was in fact worth 1 million US dollars! One of the guys said it was OK if I wanted to ring it or take a picture, but I politely declined for fear that I would accidentally break it and be doomed forever.
In picking out a wind bell, Tomoko told me that the sound of the bell came before how the bell looked. Then I started going back around the booths, testing out different bells with different sounds. Some were pure and high, others low and strong. It was wonderful to hear many beautiful sounds; not the cacophony I was expecting at all.
After some harsh deliberations, I picked up a few that sounded beautiful and looked cute to boot! One bell in particular piqued my interest...
When asked what animal it was, the clerk told us it was a cow. Cow, eh? Well, I guess I can see the spots and the rotund body...but the mouth? Gosh, it looks like I'll have to go find some Japanese cows to see this sight for myself!
It was raining on and off for most of the day, but that didn't seem to deter anyone from coming out. The festival was held at the Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji temple right off of the Kawasaki-daishi train stop. The temple complex itself was huge and I would like to come back when the weather is nicer.
Tomoko told me that artisans from all over Japan came to this temple once every year to showcase and sell their wind bells. From Nagasaki to just short of Hokkaido, wind bell makers had their wares displayed from the ceiling. Sometimes when it wasn't windy, they would use hand fans to make the bells chime.
The blue signs indicated what the company name was and where they were from.
There were glass ones, ceramic ones, metal ones, bells made out of live plants, and even bells made out of solid silver and gold. There was a table at the front of all the stalls and on the table was a gold bell being guarded by two men. Tomoko talked to them and found out that this small golden bell was in fact worth 1 million US dollars! One of the guys said it was OK if I wanted to ring it or take a picture, but I politely declined for fear that I would accidentally break it and be doomed forever.
In picking out a wind bell, Tomoko told me that the sound of the bell came before how the bell looked. Then I started going back around the booths, testing out different bells with different sounds. Some were pure and high, others low and strong. It was wonderful to hear many beautiful sounds; not the cacophony I was expecting at all.
After some harsh deliberations, I picked up a few that sounded beautiful and looked cute to boot! One bell in particular piqued my interest...
When asked what animal it was, the clerk told us it was a cow. Cow, eh? Well, I guess I can see the spots and the rotund body...but the mouth? Gosh, it looks like I'll have to go find some Japanese cows to see this sight for myself!