The midnight New Year’s Eve bells ceremony performed at Buddhist temples in Japan is called Joya no Kane.
Joya no Kane is traditionally performed on Ōmisoka, the last day of the Japanese year. Temple bells are struck 108 times, a number associated with the earthly desires or afflictions that Buddhism teaches cause suffering. The ringing symbolically helps people leave those troubles behind as the new year begins.
The ceremony is usually conducted at Buddhist temples, while Shinto shrines are associated with other New Year practices. Many people visit a shrine or temple during hatsumōde, the first religious visit of the new year, but hatsumōde is not the name of the bell ceremony itself.
Romanizations vary, including Joya no Kane and joyanokane. The Japanese term is therefore sometimes written as one word in English-language references. The count of 108 remains the central identifying fact.