Besides the traditional food and the New Year related entertainment, the passing into a new year has a profound spiritual meaning in Japan. At the Buddhist temples, the New Year is greeted with a ceremony of 108 bell chimes called Joya no Kane - 除夜の鐘.

The tradition says that for each of the bell chimes, we are purified of one of the sufferings accumulated in the past year…

Ankokuji Temple, Tenjin, Fukuoka

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Peaceful New Year’s night at Honno-ji, Kyoto