The Japanese New Year's Eve festival celebrated with temple bells is called Ōmisoka.
Ōmisoka is the final day of the year in Japan and is one of the country's most important annual observances. Buddhist temples traditionally ring their bells 108 times in a ritual called joyanokane. The number 108 represents the earthly desires or worldly passions that, in Buddhist thought, trouble human beings.
The bell ringing is intended to purify people by symbolically releasing those attachments before the new year begins. Families commonly spend the evening together, eat soba noodles, and prepare for the first shrine or temple visit of the new year, known as hatsumōde.
Ōmisoka should not be confused with Obon, a summer observance associated with ancestral spirits, or Setsubun, a seasonal festival usually marked by bean-throwing. Japan's New Year period centers on renewal, household preparation, and the first days of January.