In Japan's Joya no Kane ceremony, Buddhist temple bells are traditionally rung 108 times on New Year's Eve.
The ceremony takes place at temples during the transition into the new year. The number 108 is linked to the traditional Buddhist account of human earthly desires, often called bonnō. Ringing the bell is understood as a symbolic act of dispelling these attachments.
The Japanese name combines joya, meaning New Year's Eve, with kane, meaning bell. The final rings may extend into the first moments of January, so the ceremony belongs to the boundary between the old and new years rather than to only one clock hour.
The number is religious and symbolic, not a count of calendar days or months. Individual temples can vary in exactly how they organize the ringing, but 108 is the conventional number associated with the rite.