The great bell of Tôdaiji, Nara

The bonshō of Tōdai-ji hangs in the shōrō (bell tower) on the temple's eastern hill in Nara, with the original casting dating to the temple's founding ceremonies in 752 CE and the present bell to a recasting in 1239. Prints of this subject usually frame the bronze mass of the bell within the open timber structure of the tower, the dark patina contrasting with the lighter cedar of the beams and the green of the surrounding wooded slopes around the Nigatsu-dō and Sangatsu-dō. The composition rewards careful registration of multiple blocks to build the gradations of bronze, timber, and foliage. While Kotozuka's catalog is dominated by Kyoto subjects, Nara—roughly an hour south by rail—appears periodically as an extension of his ancient-capital theme, and a sacred object framed within its architectural setting is a strategy shared with other [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) artists addressing famous religious sites.