The Wind Bells of Odawara Casting
Ring Like A Beautiful Breeze

Date：08, Aug, 2014
Investigated and Written by Misaka Youhei
About our introductory articles

Tweet

Do you like to hear a wonderful sound? Saying yes, you should have a chance to feel Odawara Casting in Kanagawa, Japan. I am sure the wind bells let you listen to it. That tinkles so temporarily like a breeze, therefore it keeps you forever.

Long long ago, they used bells as a ritual article in the time when they didn't own language and letters yet. Bells have, in other words, familiarly been with us beyond times, as Japanese still have the habit of ringing a large bell on the occasion that we pay a visit to a Shinto shrine.

The bell rung by an invisible breeze for liberating us from summer heat a minute, you know that is wind-bells called Furin in Japanese. Old times in Japan, they thought a strong wind brought an epidemic and set wind bells in order to ward off something evil. The meaning of wind bells has not changed because today we put furin to divert ourselves from devilish heat.

All around Japan, there are wind bells made of diverse materials like glass, crystal and so on. It is common they give entertainments about wind bells. Then, what tinkles the most elegantly? It is nothing else but the wind bells of Odawara Casting made in Kanagawa. Sadly, that is lately produced at just Kashiwagi Art Foundry.

The marvelous sound has fascinated Kurosawa Akira, a late film director. It is said he was completely fond of copper alloy wind-bells of Odawara Casting and then, used a hundred of the wind bells in his film “Akahige.” That tells how great it tinkles.

Please don’t misunderstand that they do naught but cling to tradition tight. A little differently from the age of “Akahige,” the copper alloy wind-bells ring since they have modestly restyled their casting. It day by day keeps changing the meaning of the tinkle and the makers put the focus on. So still today, we hear the bell ring and are perfectly absorbed in.