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What an amazing festival to be in and a part of. A sea of bodies flowing in the streets past an intriguing array of foods and sweeping you up to the temple. Walls of lanterns and huge queues going up to the temple for blessings. A wonderful experience
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Date of experience: November 2018
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Tokyo Tourism Bureau says that Tori no Ichi has been celebrated since the Edo Period. It's a festival that is celebrated on each Day of the Rooster in November (these days vary) at each Otari-jinja shrine. It's an opportunity for people to pray for good business, and the key feature for a tourist are the decorated kumade rakes, which are intended to rake in success. The designs of the rakes range from cheesy tcotchke to beautiful and ornate. One fun aspect of Tori no Ichi are the rhythmic hand-clapping between the seller and the buyer upon the sale of each rake. Be forewarned, many of these rakes are hard to get back overseas in one piece, and even the smallest kumade rake is going to run you about 2,000Yen, In addition to the rakes, there are loads of food vendors selling meals and snacks like yakisoba, grilled char, calamari, takoyaki, karaage, grilled rice cake, etc. Also, it's crowded, VERY crowded. Like annoyingly crowded, and might have been the only time in Japan in which we were shoved without so much as a "sumimasen." Which, to be fair, is the same as any other crowded festival anywhere else in the world. If you go to the Tori no Ichi at Hanazono Shrine, you'll be able to stp by Golden Cai too ... if that's your thing.…
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Date of experience: November 2016
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