Ogane-Dera Bell Cast in Japan

1508

In the warring provinces of Sengoku Japan, Buddhist temples continued to cast enormous bronze bells even as samurai clans slaughtered each other outside. Craftsmen mixed copper and tin in clay molds and chanted sutras while the metal cooled. Japanese aesthetics and Japanese warfare were rising in parallel streams. The contrast between serene Buddhist art and Sengoku violence reflected a cultural duality defining Japanese civilization for centuries.