On November 28, Higashi Honganji Temple, the headquarters of the Shinshu Otani sect of Buddhism, in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, held the "Bando-bushi" service in Amida Hall. Bando-bushi is the closing service of "Hoonko," a memorial service in honor of Shinran, the sect's founder. Approximately 60 seated monks dynamically swayed their upper bodies, and their booming chants of the Buddhist invocation "Nembutsu" echoed in the hall.

During the sutra reading, one monk in the inner sanctuary led recitation of "Namu-amida-bu," and other monks, called "Do-shu," also began chanting Nembutsu at the top of their voices while moving their upper bodies back and forth and side to side. Amida Hall was packed with 4,500 followers, who brought their hands together in prayer before the wooden statue of Shinran and the principal image of the temple.

This unique prayer style is said to represent the image of the founder of the sect, Shinran, who continued offering fervent prayers on a boat rocking in the water when he was exiled to Echigo, the old name for the most part of Niigata Prefecture 800 years ago. Now, Higashi Honganji Temple is the sole temple that maintains this prayer style.