Second of two parts Staff writer In the crisp morning air, two young men fervently chant a sutra in front of a shining 2-meter statue of Amida Buddha, which is of cardinal importance in the Jodo sect, at Kaihoji Temple in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward.

News photoA 25-year-old intern at a judicial clerks' office pours water over his family's gravestone at Kaihoji Temple in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo.

The two men visit the temple every Sunday morning to offer prayers to Buddha, who according to the sect's doctrine presides over paradise, and to the graves of relatives buried in the temple's compound.