Temple Bell (592)

Temple Bell depicts a bonshō, the large bronze bell suspended in a wooden bell tower (shōrō) at Buddhist temple complexes throughout Japan. Such bells, struck by an external wooden beam (shumoku), mark hours of monastic practice and the year-end ritual of joya no kane. The mokuhanga medium suits the subject's textural contrasts: the dark mass of cast bronze against lighter wooden structural members of the tower, with a key block establishing rope, bell ornamentation, and timber framing. Bokashi shading would model the bell's curved surface and the recess of the tower interior. Within Tanaka Ryohei's body of work, temple subjects appear less frequently than rural minka but draw on the same interest in traditional Japanese architecture and craft. The print stands within a printmaking lineage stretching from ukiyo-e meisho-e of famous temples through shin-hanga temple studies, here pared down to a single architectural element rather than the broader temple precinct view typical of those earlier traditions.