page_title: Waniguchi
section_title: Name
hierarchical_section_title: Waniguchi / Name
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 鰐口（吉祥院天満宮吉祥天女社）
context_page_description: A waniguchi is a Japanese flat round hollow metal slit gong that hangs before the worship hall at a Shinto shrine or image hall at a Buddhist temple. By shaking the rope in front, it may be sounded by worshippers to attract the deity's attention.
context_section_description: As denoted by its kanji, waniguchi literally means "crocodile (or alligator) mouth". It is so-named due to the instrument's striking visual resemblance.
  On the earliest inscribed examples, what we now know of as waniguchi were referred to in a number of other ways, including "metal" (金, kon), "metal mouth" (金口, konku), and "metal drum" (金鼓, gonku).
  The earliest inscribed instance of waniguchi written as it is today (鰐口) is on a bronze example at Ōtakayama Jinja (ja) in Ōgawara, Miyagi Prefecture. With a diameter of 43 centimetres (17 in), depth of 13 centimetres (5.1 in), and weighing some 32.5 kilograms (72 lb), the long inscription on both sides documents its dedication in Shōō 6 (1293). In recognition of its documentary significance, the waniguchi has been designated an Important Cultural Property.
caption: Waniguchi have a distinctive slit-mouth opening, as may be clearly seen in this example at Kisshō-in Tenman-gū (ja) in Kyōto
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