The Bell Tower of Ankokuji temple

The Ankokuji temple is located in several minutes walk from Tenjin, the center of Fukuoka City.



This bell tower was built in 2007, though the temple itself was built about 650 years ago. The outer diameter of this bell is about 1.88m and it weighs about 10tons.

A young Buddhist monk hits this bell nine times every morning from 11:00 o’clock. Nine is pronounced “ku” in Japanese which means “pain”. This pain is taken away one by one by hitting the bell with sutra.

You can hit this bell with a monk if you are here at 11:00 a.m. You will feel at ease under space filled with serenity by hearing massive sounds even at the center of big town with skyscrapers.

(by a member of Fukuoka SGG Club / Jan.10, 2013)