Geovany Alvarado, a former parishioner at the church, watched as it went up in flames. "I was crying," he said. "I didn't believe what's going on. I feel so bad." The fire began on the first floor ...

The wooden Toki no Kane bell tower is the symbol of Koedo that goes back to the 1600s. The 16m-tall structure was erected by the former feudal lord of the Kawagoe Domain, Tadakatsu Sakai.