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Joyanokane means striking a bronze bell around midnight on New Year's Eve.　This is an important custom in Japan. "Joya" is the night of the last day of the year. New Year's Eve is called "Jojitsu" (In Japan,"jitsu" means day) because the day means that the past year are expelled and the new year are greeted. So the night of New Year's Eve is called "Joya" (In Japan "ya" means night).

108 strikes

The bell is struck one hundred and eight time to exclude worldly passions. Human is said to have one hundred and eight worldly passions. In order to exclude it , we strike a bell one hundred and eight times. The number of months is 12. Traditionally, in Japan, there are 24 seasons in a year. Each season has three climates - a total of 72. 12+24+72=108 "Shikuhakku" is Japanese proverb. It mean great trouble. In case of Japanese language, "shikuhakku" can be interpreted as 4 (=shi) ,9 (=ku) ,8 (=ha) ,9 (=kku) 4×9+8×9=108.　The bell is struck one hundred and seven times on New Year's Eve and one time on New Year's Day.

Praying

There ware some ritual praying to God for a good harvest. Before the bell is struck, the person who strikes the bell joins his hands in prayer toward the bell.

History

First time, the bell was struck in Song Dynasty in China. This custom is introduced to Japan in Kamakura period. It spread in Muromachi period and prevailed in Edo period.