Ritual Bell (Dōtaku)

Among the most impressive examples of early bronze casting in Japan are large, bronze bells like this one, known as dōtaku. Metallurgy, together with wet-rice cultivation, was probably first introduced to Japan by a new wave of immigrants from the Korean peninsula around 200–300 BCE. Although dōtaku resemble Chinese bells in overall shape, most lack musical resonance because of the thinness of their casting. Instead, they seem to have been ritual objects and symbols of political authority. This bell was one of fourteen excavated in 1881 on Mount Ōiwa in Shiga Prefecture.