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''Dôtaku'' are bronze bell-shaped ritual items produced and ritually buried in the [[Yayoi period]]. They were typically produced within Japan using clay or stone molds and metals imported from the continent. Though bell-shaped, many scholars have expressed skepticism that they were designed to actually ring; rather, ''dôtaku'' are believed to have served some kind of ritual purpose. As many ''dôtaku'' have been found on the edges of fertile cultivable land, some scholars have suggested they may have been intentionally buried in such locations as a ritual means of encouraging agricultural production.<ref>"Two bronze bells (dôtaku)," gallery labels, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20266979364/in/photostream/]</ref>

''Dôtaku'' are bronze bell-shaped ritual items produced and ritually buried in the [[Yayoi period]]. They were typically produced within Japan using clay or stone molds and metals imported from the continent. Though bell-shaped, many scholars have expressed skepticism that they were designed to actually ring; rather, ''dôtaku'' are believed to have served some kind of ritual purpose. As many ''dôtaku'' have been found on the edges of fertile cultivable land, some scholars have suggested they may have been intentionally buried in such locations as a ritual means of encouraging agricultural production.<ref>"Two bronze bells (dôtaku)," gallery labels, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20266979364/in/photostream/]</ref>

''Dôtaku'' bearing similar or related features have been found in a wide range of sites across the [[Sea of Japan]] coast (esp. [[Izumo province]]/[[Shimane prefecture]]), [[Shikoku]], [[Awaji Island]], and elsewhere. While many ''dôtaku'' excavated in Izumo are believed to have been produced there, many show signs of having been produced in [[Kawachi province]] ([[Osaka]]).<ref>Gallery labels, "Izumo and Yamato," special exhibit, Tokyo National Museum.</ref>

''Dôtaku'' have been unearthed in the historical period as early as [[668]]; through today, as many as 400 have been found. One of the most famous is believed to have been owned at one time by [[Edo]] painter [[Tani Buncho|Tani Bunchô]].<ref>Simon Kaner, "Jomon and Yayoi," Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History (ed. Karl Friday), 62.</ref> ''Dôtaku'' bearing similar or related features have been found in a wide range of sites across the [[Sea of Japan]] coast (esp. [[Izumo province]]/[[Shimane prefecture]]), [[Shikoku]], [[Awaji Island]], and elsewhere. While many ''dôtaku'' excavated in Izumo are believed to have been produced there, many show signs of having been produced in [[Kawachi province]] ([[Osaka]]).<ref>Gallery labels, "Izumo and Yamato," special exhibit, Tokyo National Museum.</ref>

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