Kyoto, Chion-in temple, December 31, 2010, 11:22 pm, the ringing of the bell.

Just a split-second before the tree-sized ramrod hits the second-largest bronze ringing bell in the world (at 74 tons), the monk on the left is preparing for the sonorous and nearly deafening sound waves emanating from the bell's hollow space. The sound lasts for several seconds, and it physically reverberates for even longer throughout your body. The bell is rung 108 times (the juzu, Japanese prayer beads, also have 108 beads), matching the 108-digit circle of the universe. The ringing of the bell at New Year's clears all the sins committed in the old year, preparing you to enter the new year without the weight of your sins. The 17 monks chant while swinging the ramrod ever closer toward the bell using ropes, and one of them is pulling it horizontally toward the bell in a last forceful movement that is suspending him below ramrod and bell at the time of impact.