Hongokucho bell

Replica of the Hongoku-chô bell at the Edo-Tokyo Museum

• Other Names: 時の鐘 (toki no kane)
• Japanese: 本石町の鐘　(Hongokuchou no kane)

Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada donated to the city of Edo in 1603 a bell from Edo castle, to serve to announce time for the city. It was placed in a bell tower on a 200 tsubo piece of land in the Hongokuchô neighborhood, quite close to Nihonbashi, and continued to call out the time throughout much of the Edo period.

Time was kept, and the bell maintained and rung by a series of men named Tsuji Genshichi, a name passed down from generation to generation in a hereditary fashion. The upkeep costs were paid by an extra tax for that purpose of an extra one mon per month, paid by the 410 homes closest to the bell tower.

The bell was destroyed by fire several times, in 1657, 1666, 1679, and 1711, but was always replaced. The latest 1711 replacement is still extant today, and located in nearby Jûshi Park.

Though the Hongoku-chô bell originally rang the time alone, a system of eight bells was later established, each of the eight bells - in Ueno, Asakusa, Akasaka, Honjô, Shiba, Reigaya, and Yotsuya - taking their cues from the Hongoku-chô bell, and re-ringing the time, that is, passing on the message of the announcement of the time.

References

• Screech, Timon. "An Iconography of Nihon-bashi." in Theories and Methods in Japanese Studies: Current State and Future Developments. Bonn University Press, 2008. pp330-331.