Saturday, July 26, 2014

Wind Bell Festival at Kawasaki Daishi


Kawasaki Daishi temple is best known for the infamous fertility festival (Kanamara Matsuri) at the shrine within its grounds, but every July a wind bell festival (Furin-ichi) is also held for 5 days. There are 30,000 wind bells from all over Japan made of all kinds of materials. Each material makes a different sound. The chiming is supposed to distract you from the heat and humidity and make you feel cooler, among other things.

Glass
Cast iron



Ceramic

Living moss and plant wind bells
Woven basket wind bells from Kyoto



Main Hall
Shopping street leading up to the temple

Lots of daruma for sale


Making deliveries via bicycle
Making and selling traditional candy



Our cast iron wind bell is from a company named Shuzendo located in Awate Prefecture in northern Japan. It weighs over 2 lb.!