More than something to look at
Photographs of Japanese temples show roofs, statues and gardens, but a visit also involves sound, smell and touch. A deep bell tone across a valley, incense smoke in cool air, gravel crunching underfoot and the feel of polished wooden floors are all part of the experience. Temples have long been designed with this in mind, and visitors who slow down often notice the setting as much as any single building.
The great bell
The temple bell (bonsho) is among the most recognizable sounds. It hangs in a bell tower, usually a small open-sided structure, and is a large bronze bell with no clapper inside. It is struck from the outside with a heavy wooden log suspended on ropes. The result is a low tone that swells and then fades slowly, often with a gentle pulsing as the bell vibrates.
Bells traditionally marked times of day, calling monks to practice, and marked the passage of the hours in the surrounding town. The sound is meant to be heard far beyond the temple walls, and some bells are celebrated for their tone. Some are inscribed with dedications and are valued as cultural property.
New Year’s Eve
The best-known use is the ringing at the end of the year, called joya no kane. Bells at many temples are struck 108 times, a number commonly linked in Buddhist teaching to worldly desires or troubles, with the final strikes often falling around midnight. People gather in the cold to listen or to take a turn at ringing. Details differ: some temples let visitors ring, some do not, and the count and timing vary. The custom is a strong part of New Year customs and one of the sounds many Japanese households associate with the year turning.
Other sounds
Temples contain other sounds, often quieter:
- Chanting of sutras, usually in a steady rhythm, sometimes accompanied by a small drum.
- The wooden fish (mokugyo), a hollow carved block struck to keep the beat of chanting.
- Small bells and gongs used in rites.
- Wind chimes hanging from eaves, especially in summer.
- Water, whether a trickle in a stone basin or a pond fed by a stream.
- Footsteps on gravel or wooden corridors, which add a soft rhythm to a walk.
Noh theatre, a separate art, has historical ties to temples and shrines, and its drums and flute echo some of this sonic world.
Scent
Incense is the most obvious smell. A large burner (jokoro) stands before the main hall, and visitors may light sticks or waft the smoke toward themselves, sometimes with a belief that it helps clear or heal. Incense is offered to the Buddha as a gesture of respect and purification, and its fragrance is thought to carry prayers. The temple also smells of old wood, tatami, damp stone and moss. The longer tradition of fragrances, including the incense ceremony, grew up in close company with Buddhism, and traditional incense is still used in temple rites.
Gardens and setting
Garden design in a temple is not decoration alone. Paths, bridges and gates move visitors slowly from one scene to the next. Moss, stones, pruned pines and maples change with the seasons, with the blossoms of spring and the red leaves of fall drawing crowds to some temples. The effect of dry gardens is quite different from that of a pond garden: raked gravel invites quiet sitting, while ponds and streams add the sound of water. Many of these gardens are viewed from a veranda, a place to pause.
Setting also includes the approach. A long stone path under old cedars, a flight of steps, or a gate at the bottom of a hill prepares the visitor for entering a different kind of space. In Japanese aesthetics this is partly a matter of the concept of ma, the meaningful interval between things, here between city and hall, noise and quiet, hurry and pause.
Stillness and attention
For many visitors the strongest impression is stillness, though a temple is rarely silent. Bird calls, water, wind in bamboo and a distant chant all contribute. Such quiet is often described in terms of seijaku, a calm in which small sounds are noticed. This is a cultural and aesthetic idea rather than a rule, and what visitors feel varies from person to person.
Visiting with the senses open
A few suggestions apply at most temples. Keep voices low, silence phones, and avoid touching bells or objects unless invited. Do not ring a bell not intended for visitors, since some are historic and fragile. Follow signs about incense and photography. Taking time to sit on a veranda, listen and look is generally welcome, and it is often the way temples are meant to be experienced.