My Encounter with Japanese Ceramic Talisman Bells ① by Roger Voltz

My Encounter with Japanese Ceramic Talisman Bells
by Roger Voltz

For many years, I have developed the habit of occasionally visiting the recycling shops (リサイクル店) — also called second-hand stores (中古品店) — in the city of Shizuoka, where I live.

You can find everything in these thrift shops: furniture, refrigerators, washing machines, electronic devices, clothes, shoes, bags, traditional Japanese items, tools — in short, everything produced and used by the consumer society over the past decades.

A true cave of treasures — though without real jewels.

Among these second-hand stores, there is one that I visit quite often.

I like strolling through the aisles, hoping to stumble upon an object of value, a forgotten or neglected antique — you never know.

I have, in fact, found valuable pieces of traditional Japanese art there before.

Some time ago, I entered that store as usual, without looking for anything in particular, when my eyes fell upon three large cardboard boxes placed directly on the floor.

Leaning over them, I noticed they were filled with small traditional clay objects.

Their special feature was that they were all bells.

Some were talismans or good-luck charms, others represented animals of the Japanese zodiac.

I quickly realized that some of these little bells were true works of ceramic art, bearing an undeniable aesthetic quality.

Without thinking too much, I began sorting through them and chose those that were the most beautiful — whose sound was either the most melodious or the deepest.

Back home, I spread out all these treasures before me.

Without meaning to, I had started a collection of ceramic bells called dorei (土鈴) in Japanese — literally “clay bells.”

Each had its own style: demons, animals, and figures from Japanese folklore.

Faced with this form of traditional folk art that I had overlooked until then, I wanted to learn more about these clay bells and began researching this aspect of Japanese traditional culture I had previously known nothing about.

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(Roger•Voltz)

My Encounter with Japanese Ceramic Talisman Bells ①  by Roger Voltz 

Clay bells date back to very ancient times, already appearing at the end of the Jōmon period.
(Here, I also include a brief chronology of dorei throughout Japan’s historical eras.)