Abstract
Most of the bells in Buddhist temples were cast to be installed in temples (i.e., they are temple bells). However, some were cast for feudal domains to keep the time during the Edo period (i.e., they are timekeeping bells), but were later moved to temples where they came to be used as temple bells. Therefore, the inscriptions (shomei) on the latter often relate to time. However, as most of the shomei are written in classical Chinese, only a few have been fully deciphered. This study examined the full original text of the inscription on a timekeeping bell once located at Kurobane Castle (currently a temple bell at Joenji Temple, Nakagawa-machi, Tochigi Prefecture) and translated it into literary and colloquial Japanese. As a result, it became apparent that the author of the shomei was a figure with ties to Ogyu Sorai (1666-1728), who, in addition to the author, had two other leading disciples from the Kurobane domain. On this basis, I pointed out the influence that the teachings of Ogyu Sorai may have had on the Kurobane domain.
