The New Year's Eve bell at Tokyo's Sensō-ji temple traditionally rings 108 times.
The ringing is part of Joya no kane, a Buddhist New Year's Eve observance practiced at temples throughout Japan. In Buddhist interpretation, the 108 strikes represent the number of earthly desires or afflictions that trouble human beings. The sound symbolically purifies people as the old year ends.
Sensō-ji, in Tokyo's Asakusa district, is one of Japan's oldest and most famous Buddhist temples. Its New Year's period attracts large crowds, who may hear the bell and then participate in the first temple visit of the year.
The number should not be confused with the twelve grapes eaten in Spain, where each grape corresponds to a month. Japan's 108-count tradition is religiously rooted and concerns the ringing of a temple bell.