The Ohara Bell

In 1945, the crew of the USS Duluth were stationed outside Tokyo when they discovered the abandoned 17th-century temple bell later to be called the Ohara Peace Bell.

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Editor: Britt Aamodt

Producer: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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Transcript

Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.

The crew of the USS Duluth found an abandoned bronze bell on the outskirts of Tokyo. It was 1945 and Japan had recently surrendered, ending World War Two. The US sailors were part of the American occupation force stationed outside Tokyo. They were now part of the peacekeeping mission, and along the way, they also found this abandoned bell. It had been forged in 1686 for a Buddhist temple in Ohara where, during New Year’s, the monks would ring it to purify the mind of 108 earthly desires. But the temple had been vacated some time before. And during World War Two, the orphaned bell had been confiscated by the Japanese government, along with other temple bells, to be turned into armaments and munitions. But the war ended before the bell could be melted down. That's how the USS Duluth ended up taking it back to the States, where it found a home in Duluth, Minnesota's City Hall, until that is a visiting scholar from Japan recognized it and asked that the bell be returned.

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